Bittersweet Love
by PastelLace
Summary: Raimundo Pedrosa doesn't believe in love. Love is merely a game for him and he already has a new target—the new girl in school. Too bad she doesn't feel the same way when it comes to love. RaiKim!
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **This is an AU-ish fic. It's also a RaiKim story. Some characters are OOC, some aren't. Despite the fact that this is an AU fic, the four (Clay, Omi, Raimundo, and Kimiko) are still Xiaolin dragons. Other characters/villains are on this fic too.

**Summary: **_Raimundo Pedrosa doesn't believe in love. Love is merely a game for him and he already has a new target—the new girl in school. Too bad she doesn't feel the same way when it comes to love.  
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**Pairings: **Raimundo Pedrosa x Kimiko Tohomiko (Other pairings too... but I'm still iffy about them...so they're undecided).

**Rating T.** There are some (or a lot… depends on how the fic goes) foul language in the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters.

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><p><strong>Prologue.<strong>

Raimundo Pedrosa was pretending to look interested in what Keiko, his history partner, was saying. While nodding consistently and keeping his eyes on her, his mind was somewhere else. Despite trying to make it look like he was deeply intrigued by what Keiko had to say, he was really thinking about the waves that were waiting for him at the local beach.

His best friend, Clay Bailey, was nodding to what Keiko said. Unlike Raimundo, Clay was a great listener and someone who had great focus. Most people think it's because Clay's just a sweet natured guy. Raimundo knows that it's just because Clay has a crush for her and is too shy to act on it.

Unlike his best friend, he wasn't so shy around girls. In fact, he was very confident around girls. Despite the fact that he wasn't a senior, he knew that he had scored with girls better than many seniors at his school.

"Wow, she's pretty," Clay said, snapping Raimundo out of his trance.

Whenever he heard the words "she" and "pretty", he would immediately start paying attention.

"Who's pretty?" Raimundo asked bluntly, scanning over Keiko's shoulder.

"Back off, Rai," Keiko said as she shoved him off of her shoulder. "She's off-limits. I know that you have a reputation at stake about trying to hook up with every girl our year before the end of the year, but seriously, I'm not going to let that happen."

Ignoring her, Raimundo grabbed the magazine out of her hands. The girl on the cover of the magazine had dark black hair that framed her heart shaped face. Her sapphire blue eyes contrasted with her dark hair in a beautiful way. If he wasn't so insecure about his reputation, he would have exhaled sharply and muttered a "wow" out of shock.

"He has that look on his face," Clay whispered to Keiko.

"Oh, no," Keiko muttered as she reached for the magazine, only for Raimundo to turn his back on her. "Raimundo! Don't you dare—" She stopped when he shoved the magazine back into her hands. "Huh?"

"It's not like I'm ever going to meet her or anything," Raimundo said as he shrugged. "Too bad though. She's a cutie."

"Wow."

"What?" Raimundo said, looking at the girl next to him.

"You haven't heard a thing I said."

"Yes I have."

"No you didn't. If you actually did, you would have known that Kimiko is going to attend this school starting tomorrow—" Her eyes went wide when she realized what she had just said. She clasped her hands over her mouth.

"I think it's a little too late," Clay whispered to her. "It's kind of like closing the barn door after the cows have gotten out."

"Don't you dare, Pedrosa!" Keiko said, loud enough for everyone in their history class to turn around and look at her.

"I think I have just found my next target," Raimundo said, smirking back at her. "By the end of the year, Kimiko..."

"Tohomiko," Keiko muttered in a bitter tone, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms against her chest.

"_Tohomiko_ will be my… wait for it… next target."

"Ha!" Keiko said, laughing in a shrill tone. "As if. Kimiko's father doesn't allow her to date guys like you."

"Who said I wanted to date her?" Raimundo said. Clay was shaking his head in disbelief at him.

"Even if you wanted to or not, you're not her type." She stuck her tongue at him.

"Are you saying that sexy guys aren't her type?" Raimundo wagged his eyebrows at her, causing her to scowl at him.

"Rai."

"What?" His trademark smirk appears on his face.

"You're unbelievable."

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><p><strong>AN**: Well, I hope you like it. This is my first RaiKim and Xiaolin Showdown fic. There will be other characters too-this was just a prologue.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 1: New Girl

**Chapter 1: New Girl**

Her sapphire eyes scanned the quad for her best friend as it dawned on her that she, Kimiko Tohomiko, was now attending a public high school. It had taken a lot of convincing for her father to finally agree to allow her to go to public school, despite the fact that he had wanted her to enroll at an all-girl boarding school.

Her arms were folded against her chest as she waited, a bit impatiently, for her friend to arrive. The school had been very generous and had given her special privileges the second she arrived, knowing who her father was. She guessed that they all knew who he was in the gaming industry and how much money he had. Her friend Keiko had predicted that the school would do such thing.

A smile appeared on her face when she saw her friend's familiar raven colored hair with pink streaks through it. _Same old Keiko_, Kimiko thought as the girl came closer to her.

"Kimmy!"

"Keiko!"

Both girls shrieked and squealed with happiness as they hugged each other.

"Wow, you've grown!" Kimiko gushed, looking up at her friend. The last time the two girls have met, they were both the same height. It made Kimiko a little jealous that she was still as short as always and that now she only came up to Keiko's shoulder.

"You have too!" Keiko said as she linked her arm with Kimiko's. She looked up at the sky in front of them and her face immediately scrunched up. "I was planning on taking you to the beach later today, but something tells me that it's not going to be a beach day."

Kimiko followed her friend's gaze and she found herself frowning too. From what her alarm clock had said when she had woken up earlier that morning, it was suppose to be a sunny day. "How strange," she muttered.

"Come," Keiko said, giggling with her friends. "We must compare our schedules… and I want to give you a heads up about someone that might be in your life soon."

Shaking the thoughts about the weather out of her head, she smiles weakly at her friend. "Okay."

-x-

As he tried to figure out how to score with Kimiko Tohomiko, he lazily kicked the ball back and forth until the sudden gust of wind snapped him out of his trance. Shuddering, he grabbed his shoulder as he kicked the soccer ball towards the benches, where his friend, Omi, was practicing his martial arts.

"Did you feel that?" Raimundo asked as he sat down next to Omi. "It's normally not that windy in the morning."

Omi raised a brow at Raimundo. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't feel anything at any."

"Anything at _All_," Raimundo corrected, rolling his eyes. He sighed as he looked at the sky in front of him. He had always enjoyed going out early in the morning before school to their school's soccer field for two reasons. One, it gave him peace and quiet for him to concentrate on his soccer. Two, the sky was always a beautiful color of orange, pink, yellow, and blue. From the gray clouds that blocked the beautiful colors, he took it as a sign that it was going to be a depressing day.

"Are you going to come by after school?" Omi asked, smiling at his friend as the two of them headed to the lockers.

Raimundo looked at his friend and shrugged. "Don't know, Omi. My parents weren't so happy with my grades and they threatened to take soccer away if I don't keep my grades up. Besides, I don't think Fung is going to be happy to see me after last time."

"You should come!" Omi persisted as the two of them headed to their lockers. He gave Raimundo his best puppy dog looks, knowing that Raimundo would reluctantly agree to it. "Clay's coming too."

"Fine," Raimundo said, rolling his eyes. He didn't understand why it was so chilly and windy as he shoved his soccer ball into his locker. The forecast that the weather lady on their local news channel had stated that it was going to be a dry, hot, and sunny day. He wanted it to be hot and sunny. He needed an excuse to go surfing. Slamming his locker shut, he was shocked with how bright the sun was. That was when he realized that the gray clouds were gone—just as he wanted them to be. Shaking the thought out of his head, he muttered, "C'mon Omi. Let's go find Keiko and her new friend."

Omi rolled his eyes. "You just want to check in Keiko's friend," Omi said, folding his arms against his chest.

"Check _out_," Raimundo corrected.

"That too."

He rolled his eyes. He gave one of the girls walking by his trademark smirk and wink, knowing that it would make the girl giggle at the fact that he had winked at her.

Clay had caught up with them just when Raimundo slammed his locker shut; his blond hair messy under his cowboy hat blocked one of his baby blue eyes indicated that he had ran from down the hall just to catch up with them. Nodding curtly towards the two of them, he took off his hat to quickly fix his hair.

The three of them began to walk towards their classes.

"From what I heard," he started, his voice thick with a Texas accent that Raimundo and Omi were used to, "from Keiko's friend Leila a few minutes ago is that Miss Kimiko is on campus."

Stopping in his tracks, Raimundo looked at his friend. "Really? Now where is this girl so I can work my charms?" He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, causing Omi and Clay to roll their eyes in disbelief towards their friend.

"You know that Keiko doesn't want you to flirt with her, let alone be near her," Omi said, smiling innocently at Raimundo.

"Stay out of this, chrome-dome," Raimundo replied. He looks at Clay. "C'mon, Clay! Where is _Miss Kimiko_?" He made sure to enunciate the last few words with a Texas twang to mock his friend's accent.

"Far away from you, I'm sure," Clay replied, oblivious to the fact that Raimundo had mocked his accent. "Now, Raimundo, I hope that you take it as a sign to stay away from Miss Kimiko. You should focus more on your studies and less on the opposite sex."

"But the opposite sex is more appealing," Raimundo casually said as the three of them began to walk to their classes. He saw Keiko's pink and black hair as she exited the classroom he was about to enter. He quickly hollered, "Keiko!"

Turning around on her heels, her eyes narrowed the second she realized it was him that had called out for her. "What do you want, Rai?"

"Kimiko, but it seems like there's a certain Keiko that stands in my way from gaining what I want," he said, smirking at her.

Clay and Omi shook their heads in disbelief and slowly walked away to their classes, leaving Raimundo to spar with Keiko alone.

His smirk faltered when he realized that she was grinning with evil written all over her face instead of scowling at him. "What did you do?"

"I had a nice chat with my best friend about a certain Brazilian man whore we all know and love," Keiko said, still smiling at him. She poked him on the shoulder just to agitate him. "Let's just say that it was a very nice conversation..."

He scowls at her. "I didn't know that you would sink this low, Keiko. Jealous that she's my next target and that you're not?"

She let out a shrill laugh. "As if, Rai! I'm just looking out for her. She's not like me—"

"I certainly hope not."

"Rai! As I was saying, she's not like me. She has more of an innocent view on the world," Keiko said, her brown eyes boring into his forest green ones. "_However, _if you want to date her, that's fine by me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa girl! Raimundo Pedrosa does _not_ date girls," he interrupted, chuckling at the thought of him dating anybody at all. He thought that it was absurd that she would even think that he would want to date someone.

"Whatever you say, Rai," Keiko said, shrugging at him. "For your information, you should just stay away from Kimiko."

"Threatening me now, eh?"

"Rai, I'm serious. Either you date her or stay away from her. There's no other choice."

"And why is there 'no other choice'?"

"Because every guy who meets Kimiko ends up falling for her. I've seen it happened many times and I don't want you to end up hurt."

"Raimundo Pedrosa does _not_ get hurt," he said.

"Will you stop talking third-person about yourself?" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "I don't want you to hurt her, and I surely don't want to see you hurt yourself when you attempt to hurt her. Just stay away, Rai. Stay away." And with that, she turned away on her heels in a dramatic fashion and walked off, leaving Raimundo to stare at her, stumped.

"_Que_?" he muttered, confused. Shaking his head and quickly forgetting Keiko's warning, he entered the classroom and quickly went to his seat before his physics teacher could drill him for missing homework and assignments. He rested his head on the lab table in front of him and was about to fall asleep when he felt a light tap on his right shoulder.

Looking up, he couldn't help but smirk when he realized who had just walked up to him. "And Keiko said she warned you to stay away from me…"

"Pardon?"

"Nothing," he said, still smirking. He couldn't believe his luck. Running his hands through his hair, he decided to use his boyish charms on her. "What do you want?"

Before he could even attempt to do something, she asked, "I'm curious to know what you guys have learned so far in this class. See, I'm knew and I'm not sure if I'm ahead or behind."

He looked at her and blinked. "What class is this again?"

She looked at him with disbelief. "Physics…" It was obvious that she was going to say his name, but she blushed when she realized that she didn't know what his name was at all. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name." Her sapphire eyes crinkled as a friendly smile appears on her pale face.

"Raimundo."

"_Oh_."

"What?" He knew his _oh_'s and he knew that that 'oh' wasn't a good one.

"Nothing… it's just, Keiko told me about her friend who's also named Raimundo. She said some very interesting things about him."

"Well, I hope she talked about what a sexy beast I am."

Raising a brow at him, she said, "Nothing like that at all. She did tell me what a nice guy you are."

"Really?" Raimundo said, shocked. It was too good to be true. "Wait… what did she say?" He knew Keiko well enough to know not to trust her and her big mouth.

"Umm," Kimiko said as she began to dig through her purse, "she talked about how you're like a brother to her, and, um, about how you're gay." She smiled at him as she pulled out a pen to write with.

Raimundo couldn't help but drop his jaws. "_Que?_ Gay? _Girl_, I'm not gay. I mean, look at me! Does it look like I'm gay?" He was shocked that Keiko had told her that he was gay. _Of course she was going to try to sabotage your game, idiot!_ He told himself.

She shrugged. "Well, Keiko told me—"

"Are you that stupid enough to believe every word that girl says?" Raimundo shouted, loud enough for their physics teacher to look at them.

Scowling at him, she said, "Did you just call me stupid? And what are you trying to imply about Keiko?"

Before he could even reply, he was interrupted when their teacher cleared his throat. Both of them looked up to realize that their physics teacher was standing in front of their lab table holding two detention slips in his hands.

"What?" Raimundo demanded, looking at the slip in disbelief. He was about to tell the teacher to jump off a cliff when he saw Kimiko's face when she was handed her detention. So he quietly accepted the slip as a smirk grew wider on his face.

"What is this for?" Kimiko inquired as she looked at the slip as if it was a poisonous spider.

"This is for not paying attention, talking while I'm going over today's lesson, and interrupting my teaching. If the two of you have something to discuss, do it after school today when the two of you are serving detention," Turning his back to them, he headed back to his desk to resume his lesson for the day.

Glaring at Raimundo, she hissed, "Thanks a lot, _Rai_." She waved her detention slip in his face. "Up until now, I have always had a perfect record—"

"Records are like rules… They're meant to be broken," Raimundo replied, smirking at her still.

"Ugh!" she turned away from him. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face. This is all your fault."

"Hey," he said, still smirking at her, "it takes two to tango." For some reason, he was becoming more and more fascinated by her. He loved her feistiness and he already knew that he was going to have some fun with his new target. Especially since they were going to spend an hour together after school to serve their hour detention. He knew that an hour gave him plenty of time to work his charms on her. After all, most girls fell for him in just a few minutes. "Welcome to Valon High, new girl."

"Don't call me that!" she hissed, glaring at him with a scowl on her face. "My name's Kimiko, not 'new girl'."

"Whatever you say, _new girl_." He couldn't help but smirk once again when he saw the look on her face. She was indeed different from any other girl he had ever met in his life, and it fascinated him that she didn't fell for his charms right away. Most girls usually would. _Finally, _he thought as he looked at his blank notebook, _I get the challenge that I have always wanted_. _And if Keiko's correct about what she said, then trying to score one with her is going to be in fact a challenge._

When he looked up from his notes to sneak a peek at the girl next to him, he quickly realized that a pair of sapphire eyes was on him.

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><p><strong>AN: **Thank you for reviewing the last chapter! I really did appreciate it. I normally update fics once every week, but I decided to update this one right away for some odd, unexplainable reason.

Things will get more interesting/better as the fic gets more and more developed.

Chase, Wuya, Jack Spicer, Ashley (Katnappe), Master Fung, Dojo, and a few others (I'm still deciding whether or not if I want them in the fic or not) will be in the story sooner or later.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.** Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 2: Detention

**Chapter 2: Detention.**

Raimundo had never spent so much time thinking before, until now. Normally, it was easy for him to score with girls. All it took for him was a smirk and a wee bit of his charm and the girl would fall for him fast. Now, Kimiko was someone different. She was Keiko's best friend and the daughter of the rich Toshiro Tohomiko. It was like a new game for him with new rules and stakes at play. He was excited and overwhelmed at the same time.

As much as he was over-confident on trying to score, he was also insecure. He knew that he wasn't the first guy to have wanted to score or hook up with her. _God knows how many guys that girl has rejected_, he thought as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He looked out towards the soccer field and sighed. Feeling the cool breeze in his hair, he couldn't help but feel a boast of confidence.

"I am Raimundo Pedrosa," he reminded himself as he shuffled towards the end of the hall. "I can do this. She's just one girl." Just as he reached for the doorknob, someone else reached for it too. And he felt it when their hands touched. It felt like a surge of energy, a fiery passion, go through him from one touch.

Looking at her, he couldn't help but blush. _Why am I blushing? _He thought. _I never blush._

Kimiko eyed him suspiciously before smiling and said, "And Keiko thought you wouldn't show up."

He couldn't help but give her a mischievous smirk. "Nah, girl. Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead at these stupid detentions… but I might have a reason to now…" His words trailed off as he gave her a wink. He could see a faint blush appear on her pale face and he knew that his charm was working.

"You should really serve all of your detentions," she said with a scolding tone. She shook her head in a disapproving way before saying, "or it'll look bad on your school records."

"Does it look like I care?" Raimundo asked, smirking at her. "_Girl_, I'm bad. Girls just love the bad boys."

Before she could reply, a blonde walks in between them, causing Raimundo to take a step back. She flipped her hair back and narrowed her eyes at the two of them before saying, "Gag me." She then walked into the room.

Kimiko looked at Raimundo. "And who is she? A pissed-off random hook up of yours?"

Raimundo snorted. "As if. I would never date Ashley. She's too obsessed with cats. Plus, she's dating or was dating—who knows… they're always on or off—Jack."

"Jack? As in Jack Spicer?" Kimiko said, smirking. "I met him before. He's a huge fan of my father's work. He's a very… interesting guy." She quickly glances at her cell phone and sighed. "Well, looks like we ran out of time to gossip about things. Detention awaits."

"After you," Raimundo said, smirking at her with his trademark smirk as he opened the door. He could feel heat as her arm brushes against his as she walked into the detention hall.

He saw the teacher's amused and shocked look on his face when he saw the two of them enter the room and he quickly understood why. Normally, there were only four people in the entire school who would get detentions. It didn't shock anyone that the four of them would normally get detentions. They were always showing off how much they didn't care about the school rules and would demonstrate it.

Raimundo knew right away to sit in the front of the class. He didn't associate well with the group of misfits. Especially with their 'leader', Chase Young. He couldn't help but smirk when Kimiko sat down to his left.

He turned towards her and said, "Hmm… is it me, or does it seems like fate keeps on bringing us together?"

She looks at him and raised a brow, which he considered was her signature move, before saying, "Perhaps karma is punishing me for forcing my dad to be okay with letting me go here."

A fake scowl appears on his face as he pretended to look hurt. "Ouch… you could have played along."

She giggled and he couldn't help but swoon at how beautiful the sound of her laughter was.

_Too bad I'm only trying to score,_ he told himself. _Too bad, though. She's a keeper._ He shook those thoughts out of his head. He was becoming confused with the mixed feelings he had.

"Keiko tells me that you play soccer," Kimiko said, looking at him.

He nods. "Ay, chica, soccer is in my blood. My older brothers before me have played for the school's varsity team. Now it's my turn. And in my opinion, I'm the best Pedrosa this school has ever had when it comes to soccer," he said.

"Wow," she said; her face pink as she tried to keep herself from laughing. "You're very cocky, Rai."

"Not cocky," he shot back, smirking at her. "Confident. Two different things; trust me. I'm not that arrogant, I'm just bold. Really. The second you meet Omi, you'll realize that I'm just confident, not cocky. Soccer is my world. Besides surfing, of course. But soccer has my heart."

"I don't get it. Soccer's way overrated," she said, looking at him. "And football. Soccer and football is overrated."

He looked at her with a shocked look on his face. "What? _Girl_, you're crazy. Soccer is amazing and awesome and _not_ overrrated."

A blush appears on her face. "I've never played soccer before."

His jaws dropped. "Que? Never played soccer—_Never played soccer?_" He suddenly realized every pair of eyes was on him, but he didn't give a damn about that. He was too shocked. "You never even kicked a ball?"

"Nope." She looks at him. "I was tutored most of my life. Daddy didn't want me to get hurt, so he never made my play sports," she said, looking at him.

"That is absurd," he muttered, looking at her. "Wow. You've never played soccer before."

"Continue to say it as much as you want," Kimiko said, her sapphire eyes staring into his forest green, "but the facts will remain the same."

He looked at her and then said, "You must have had a miserable childhood."

A scowl appears on her face and her sapphire eyes darken with anger. "You don't know me, Rai. Nobody knows me—the real me. Even Keiko doesn't fully know the real me."

"Well, that's going to change," he said, smirking at her. He watched the annoyed look on her face turn into a puzzled one. "Because I'm going to teach you how to play soccer, and then you'll see what you have been missing your entire life."

She looked at him. "No strings attached? Because I hate owing people favors over silly things they do for me."

He hesitated. _God damn it, why is she so careful? _Sighing, he nodded. "No strings attached. We'll learn how to play on Friday, okay?"

She smiles at him and said, "Okay. Friday it is." She extended her hand and he realized that she wanted him to shake on it.

He rolled his eyes. "Girl, I don't go back on my words." _Well, for you I won't_, he thought. He shook that thought out of his head. He didn't understand why his thoughts were getting sidetracked.

She cocked her head and said, "I know, but I just don't trust you."

He couldn't help but smirk. "Of course you wouldn't… because I'm _bad_."

"Not bad," she replied, looking him straight in the eyes. "Confident and cocky."

He scowled, causing her to giggle. "Friday, after school, soccer fields. Okay?" He slapped her hands before shaking on it. She pulled her hands back and winced. He could still feel the surge of heat even after pulling his hand away from hers. He looked at her and wondered if she could feel it too. He looked over his shoulder to notice Chase was staring at them. _Okay then, _Raimundo thought to himself.

-x-

As Raimundo walked out of detention, he knew only one thing. He had to score—fast. Because he knew that a certain sapphire eyed girl was somehow making things more complicated than it really should be. _She's supposed to fall for me, not the other way around_, he thought. _Keiko's right. Every guy who meets her will end up falling for her_, he thought bitterly. Clenching his fists, he kicked the ground under him as he headed towards the front of the campus.

He was upset and slightly pissed off because he knew he was falling for her and it sucked because he had no idea what feelings felt like until now. He was used to girls falling for him quickly after spending little time with him, but she was different.

Omi and Clay were waiting for him at the front of the school, and it made him realize how lucky he was to have friends like them.

He shook his head, wondering why it was now that he was thinking about how blessed he was with things he would normally never care about. He frowned at how ridiculous he was feeling, and said, "Guys. I have a date on Friday with Kimiko."

Clay looked at his friend with the funniest look on his face. "Now what in tarnation makes you say that?"

"Well, it's almost a date," Raimundo simply said, as he shrugged. He looks at his friends, who both had an '_are-you-serious'_ look on their faces. "What?" Raimundo said with his voice on the verge of squeaking. Clearing his throat, he said, "Don't look at me like that, guys."

"It's either a date or not a date," Clay said. Poking his friend roughly in the rib, he said, "And it sure sounds like it's not a date."

Omi snickered. "Raimundo can't score on Kimiko," he sang, loud enough for his words to echo in the hallway behind them.

Raimundo clasped his hands over Omi's mouth before saying, "Shut up." He blushed slightly before looking at Clay.

Clay looked at his friend and knew right away that something was different. Very different. His friend was blushing, for crying out loud. But he couldn't say anything, even if he wanted to. Omi would just not get what he was trying to imply, and Raimundo would pretend he didn't know what Clay was trying to say. Smiling, he said, "Aww, shucks. Omi, leave the poor guy alone."

"Yeah, chrome-dome," Raimundo said, smirking at his friends. "C'mon. Let's go before the campus security yells at us to get off the campus with her nasally voice." He was glad that they had dropped the subject. He himself wanted to forget about the subject for the moment as well.

-x-

Around the corner, Chase Young kept his eyes trained on the three juniors as they walked across the front of the campus towards the end of the street. He knew from the beginning that something was odd about them. He never had put his fingers on it, until now.

Wuya looked at him with annoyance in her eyes. "What are you thinking about, Chase?"

Clearly, he should have answered with, "You." Instead, he said, "Those three." His eyes were still trained on them as they crossed the street, becoming smaller and smaller as they walked farther away.

Raising a brow, she spat icily, "I didn't know you like little boys." She huffed when she didn't hear him retort anything at all. She loved drama and being the center of attention. It pissed her off that she wasn't the center of his attention. "Answer me!" she demanded.

As if something had possessed the air around him, his face was forced to turn towards her. "I—how did you do that?"

Frowning, she said, "What are you talking about?"

"Your powers—they're stronger," he said, looking at her. He sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind."

Wuya scowled at him. "My powers have always been strong, thank you very much." She extended her hands and looked at the flowers planted around the tree nearest them. With a flick of her hands, the flowers exploded into confetti. She looked at the flowers, in shock. "Well," she said, icily, "that's new."

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her so that she looked at him straight in the eyes. "Do you know what this mean?"

"That my powers aren't diluted anymore? That I have achieved my power's potential?" Wuya asked, smirking at him. "Can you think of all of the mischief we can do to this school?"

He sighed, annoyed. "The prophecy."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to listen to that batty old man?"

"He's not a batty old man, Wuya!" Chase snapped, causing her to step back from him in fear. "He's an oracle. And he had a prophecy."

"So what are you trying to say?" Wuya asked, narrowing her eyes. She hated it when he never cut to the chase.

He grabbed her arms and lifted up her long sleeve to reveal a birthmark on her wrist. He lifted up his thick bracelet to reveal a birthmark similar to hers. She scowled at him as she pulled away from his grip. "The hell was that for?" she demanded.

"'The dragon of fire is the one who could end it all,'" he whispered, looking at her. "'For either the side of darkness, or the side of light.'"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Wuya demanded. "As you can recall, I don't take classes at prophecy one-oh-one."

He looked at her. "Something bad will happen to us, Wu. Or to them."

She looked behind his shoulder to the street he had been looking at a while ago. "Them? They're just kids, Chase. You're talking nonsense. We're different, Chase. You and me."

He looked around and said, "Open your eyes, Wu. Things have been different lately. The weather is wacky, the grass here at school is at its greenness, and there's something odd about the new girl."

Narrowing her eyes, she spat, "You think she's hot, don't you."

"I don't think she's hot, Wu. Can you trust me for once?" Chase demanded. He finally said, "When that moron got offended over something she had said, the room gotten cold and drafty, remember? And when she was laughing at something he said, the room gotten warm. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes. You're too obsessed with things you shouldn't be," she said dryly.

"Wu!" Chase's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Sorry. I was just kidding. Maybe you might have a point—maybe she's the dragon of fire. Although, she looks too good to be a dragon. Just saying," she sang.

He sighed. "If the new girl is the dragon of fire, we must figure out where the other dragons are."

She raised a brow at him as a mischievous smirk appears on her face. "So you thought that those three losers could be the other dragons in the prophecy?"

He chuckled as he put his arm around her shoulders. "I guess my mind wasn't in the right place. Why would those three be the other dragons from the prophecy?"

"Why is there even a prophecy?" she said, smirking at him. "Never trust a batty old man, Chase."

He chuckled as the two of them walked towards his car. He wished he could believe her, but he knew he couldn't. He was superstitious and he knew that something was going to happen. After all, the first part of the prophecy had already come true. He could still remember the first part of the prophecy.

_The presence of the dragon of fire completes the circle and unleashes every true potential of man and beast._

And from what Wuya had demonstrated with her strengthened powers, the dragon of fire had just arrived.

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><p><strong>AN: **Thank you for reading the last chapter! It made me happy to see that people were reading it.

Remember, I had warned that some characters will be OOC and that this is an AU-ish fic!

As you can see, I'm trying to do the whole: Xiaolin dragons/Heylin thing-but making it more "my version" then the show's version. In my version, there's a prophecy. Oh yeah, I went there. ^-^

Not a lot of RaiKim in this chapter, but the next one: there's loads. Trust me.

And just in case, let me inform you with a little details. Chase Young and Wuya are currently dating-ish. Chase, Wuya, Ashley, and Jack are seniors. Clay, Omi, Rai, Keiko, and Kimiko are juniors.

Anyways, thank you for reading!

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	4. Chapter 3: Bets

**Xiaolin Showdown Fan12345, crazychick14, f3296, XemlovezyouX11233, LovePrincessZ, miglukee, TheXGrayXLady, xXRandomnessXx, Disciple of Darkness, Rokunami123, Sunshine5643**, and _others_ who have read this fanfic... thank you! It makes me happy to know that someone's reading this. :3

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Bets<br>**

"Are you kidding me, Tohomiko?" Keiko shrieked, causing everyone in the library to look at the two of them. The librarian shushed them, causing the two girls to blush.

"Keiko," Kimiko replied, exasperated. She flipped a page in her math textbook and scanned it quickly before saying, "It's just soccer. It's not like he proposed to me or something. He's being nice."

"He's being Raimundo!" Keiko muttered, clicking her tongue. She put her hand on Kimiko's textbook, forcing her to look at her. "He's just trying to charm you, Kimmy. The second he has you hooked, he'll just treat you like last year's shoes."

Kimiko pouted as she pulled the book away from Keiko. "You know how much I hate it when you compare things to _last year's shoes_." She sighed. "You really don't like him, do you?"

"No. I do like him. He's like a brother to me. We act like siblings all the time. He's like a big brother I never had and wish that I would never ever have."

Rolling her eyes, Kimiko said, "What's so bad about Raimundo? He's very nice—"

"Nice is just part of his game. He's messing with you, Kimiko!' She shouted, causing the librarian that was passing by to shush them again. In a hush tone, Keiko whispered, "Can you not see it, Kim?"

Kimiko, rolling her eyes, said, "The only thing I see is a crazy girl in front of me trying to scare me off from Rai. Like I said oh so many times before… it's just soccer." She blushed a bit, in hopes that their plans for soccer after school could lead to something more. Even though she had been warned by Keiko much time to stay clear of the Brazilian boy, she couldn't help but become more interested in him. It was like a child wanting to defy their parents due to the fact that they want to be rebellious.

"I know that look, Kimiko. I've seen that look before."

"What look?" An innocent smile appears on her face.

"You think he's cute or something, don't you?" Keiko's eyes darken as she leaned in over the table. "Stay away from him. That boy is trouble and will just bring you into the center of more trouble. When he said that he was going to help you learn how to play soccer, he probably has more than just soccer on his mind."

"Hey!" Kimiko said, gently slapping her friend's shoulder. "Do not worry for me, Keiko. I just remembered something. It just popped into my head. Daddy's having this party this Saturday. He's inviting all of his new business partners and he told me I can invite my friends. You can bring a date to the party."

Keiko's face went red at the word "date".

"What? Does Keiko have a crush on someone?" Kimiko poked her friend with her highlighter, giggling like a young schoolgirl.

"N-no!" Keiko's face was still red. Seeing the smirk on her friend's face, she said, "Wipe that smug look off of your face because nothing is ever going to happen between us. We're just friends… he only sees me as a friend."

Kimiko nodded. She didn't want to press her for anymore questions, even though she was dying to know who the mystery man was.

Keiko suddenly smiles at her friend. As an attempt to change the subject, she said,"Remember to kick the ball at Raimundo's big head. He needs a little taste of reality now and then."

-x-

He sat there, enjoying the cool breeze as he waited for her to show up. Rolling the soccer ball with his index finger, he was wondering what was taking her so long. Unless…

"She stood me up!" He hissed, standing up. The wind immediately died down as he furiously kicked the ball across the field. Grabbing his backpack, he turned around to see Kimiko standing right behind him.

"I do hope that we're learning something easier than to kick a ball that far," she said as she raised a brow at him. "Unless you want me to instantly gain inhumane strength from nowhere to kick the ball like how you do it." A childish grin appears on her face.

"Huh?" He scratched the back of his neck before saying, "I thought Keiko had finally gotten to you—"

"Please," Kimiko said, tossing her small purse onto the ground. "I tend to just drown her out."

He chuckled. "Me too."

She cocked her head. "Aren't you going to get the ball? We don't have all day."

He smirked, folding his arms against his chest. "Why? You afraid that I'm too good for you that you'll never ever compare to someone like me?"

"Quit dreaming, boy," she said, grinning at him. "Because I am going to _own_ that field!" She marched passed him, her hair caught in the wind. She looked over her shoulder and added, "Speechless already? Hmm… I didn't know I was _that_ good."

The corner of his lip curled into a smirk as he said, "_As if_. You think you got game?"

"How should I know? I've never played this game in my entire life."

"Then why are you bragging?" He asked; his thick brows furrowed together as he faked a scowl.

"Omi says it agitates you. Does it?" A naïve smirk appears on her face.

"Yes," he admits.

"Good." She grinned at him as she walked towards the ball; leaving him behind, dazed.

-x-

"Okay, this is harder than it looks," she said, wobbling after kicking the ball only to send it a few feet across the field. "You should have told me to wear cleats, not heels."

"And give you a bigger advantage?" he teases as he stops the ball with his foot. He rolls the ball back and forth for a bit before saying, "You know… Keiko and Clay had told me to stay away from you."

"That's funny. Keiko and many other girls have warned me to stay away from you."

"And yet, look where we are." A smile appears on his face. "_Not _staying away from each other."

"Obviously," she snorted. A toothy, shy grin appears on her face as she blushed.

"Funny. People had told Romeo to stay away from Juliet and vice versa but that never stopped them." He watched as her cheeks went red, showing signs that she was blushing at what he had said.

"I think the poison and their deaths did," Kimiko said, her face still red. Seeing the look on his face, she laughed. "Boy, you never paid attention in English, did you?"

He shrugs. "The only thing that has my attention and interest is—" He stopped himself. He was _not_ going to tell her that his interests were basically soccer, surfing, and girls. He was trying to score, not repulse her.

"Sport?" She guessed when he didn't reply.

"Exactly." He might as well go along with the flow. He didn't know what else to say—his mind had went blank went he needed it most.

"Alright, Tohomiko, show me your stuff. Are you as good as you claim you are?" Raimundo said, grinning at her. He pointed to the net behind him and said, "You have to get the ball in—in one attempt."

"Easy," Kimiko said, glaring at the net with fiery passion in her eyes. "_As pie_." She stretched her arms over her head and said, "Bring it on."

"But," he said, smirking at her still as he folded his arms across his chest. "If you can't get it into the net in one attempt, you have to go on a date with me."

Jaws dropped, she looked at him. "_What?" No wonder Keiko has been warning me, nonstop!_ Kimiko thought as she stares at him. "No deal."

"Chicken?" he said, clucking at her. He put his hands on his hips and started clucking like a chicken as he flapped his arms.

Scowling, she said, "No. I just don't want to go on a date with you," she replied, lying somewhat. She did think he was cute and had some potential boyfriend qualities, but she knew better to trust Keiko than her instants. After all, Keiko had known Raimundo a lot longer than she has.

He shrugs. "Your lost. Now all I have to do is tell everyone that the daughter of Tohomiko is scared of kicking a ball." He smirked at her.

She scowls at him. "No way." She picked up the ball. "I am not going to risk it. I understand that you're dying to go out on a date with me, but I'm not _that_ desperate."

"Neither am I!" Raimundo hissed. Despite the fact that he should be pissed that she had intentionally called him desperate, he was enjoying their little quarrel. She was feisty and he liked that she didn't get hurt by words he said. "Want to prove that you're not chicken?"

"Want to prove that you're not desperate?" She smirks at him.

Scowling, he ignored her comment. "I know how much you hate being called chicken—"

"Don't call me chicken!" She snapped, throwing the ball at his head.

He caught the ball before it hit him in the face. "Now _that_ was uncalled for," he said, smirking at her. "You're just scared, Kimiko. Aren't you?" Taunting the ball in front of her, he said, "C'mon Kim. You know you want to."

"Fine!" Kimiko said, shrugging as if she didn't care. "It's just one kick—how bad can it be?"

-x-

"_You lost the bet?" _Keiko shrieked into the PDA, causing Kimiko to pull her PDA away from her ear. "How?"

Kimiko looked up at Raimundo, who still had a smug look on his face as he took a drink from his bottle of water. "I don't know—it all happened so fast."

"Did you _want_ to lose? He's the reason why our school's soccer team made state championship. Were you out of your mind when you agreed to his stupid bet? He was just taunting you! That's just how he plays! I told you he had more than soccer on his mind. He probably planned to make a bet too!"

"Keiko, you have a mind of a mad woman," Kimiko said softly. She wondered if she had lost on purpose. Now that she had thought about it, he wasn't even trying his hardest to block her from kicking the ball in for someone who claimed that soccer was in his blood. Confused, she said, "Keiko. I'm coming to your house after school—"

"Don't even bother. I'm already at your house. Your maid let me in."

Sighing, she said, "You know I can't take the bus home. Half the city probably recognizes me from that magazine spread. You know daddy will have a cow if I take the bus home. He doesn't trust strangers."

"So? Get a ride home from lover boy." Kimiko could picture Keiko's smug, sly face when she said that.

"He's not—don't call him that!" Kimiko said, blushing. "I'd rather take the bus home." She took a glance at him as he put his cleats away in his sports bag.

"It's not like he's busy after school or anything. He doesn't do his homework. How he manages to pass his classes, it's still a mystery to me." Keiko sighed. "Either you walk home and risk dangers that lurk in every street corner, risk bus mugging, or get a ride home from Raimundo. Trust me; I'm not ecstatic about it either."

"Okay… I'll see you in ten minutes." Hanging up on Keiko, she stuffed her PDA into the pockets of her jeans. "Listen Rai—"

His left brow rise as a smirk grew on his face. "Yes?" he said in a fake sweet tone.

"I need a ride home." She looked at her feet when she said that. She didn't want to see the look on his face, just as much as she doesn't want him to see the look on hers.

He chuckled, not taking his eyes off of his sports bag. "And you think that I'm so _desperate_ for your undying love that I'll drive you home?" he teased.

"Rai! This isn't funny!" She looked at him, only to realize he wasn't looking at her.

"Take the bus. You said you would rather take the bus, anyway." He tried to sound sarcastic but his words came out cold.

"You heard."

"Yeah. Of course I heard." He turned so that his eyes looked directly into hers. "Keiko's not a quiet girl, you know. She has the lungs of an offspring of an opera singer and a gym coach."

"Please, Rai! I won't call you desperate ever again," she begged, looking at him. "You wouldn't want something bad to happen to me, do you?"

Sighing, he said, "No. Because I'm not evil or as bad as people think I am."

"Oh? What happened to the guy I met in detention who thought he was all _bad_?" She wagged a brow at him, causing a small smirk to appear on his face.

"Do you want to ride the bus?"

"I'll be shutting my mouth now." She gave him a grin. "Thank you, Rai."

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut your mouth." He grabs his sports bag and throws it over his shoulder before grabbing his backpack. After a brief moment of silence, he said, "Coach will probably kill me tomorrow."  
>"Why?"<p>

"Your heels probably turned the grass field to Swiss cheese." Looking at the blushing girl, he said, "It's not your fault. I forgot to tell you to bring cleats. Don't worry. It's my fault, anyway. I asked Coach for the keys so that I could _practice_ after school. He actually believed me. Ha! As if I, Raimundo Pedrosa, need any more practice. I'm legendary on the soccer fields. You should see me." He winked at her, causing her to blush.

"Don't be so full of yourself," Kimiko said, raising a brow at him. "You'll never know how karma will repay you."

"In that case, walk home," he said, smirking at her.

She glared at him, jaws wide. "You know I can't—"

"Gotcha. Just so you know, I'm not desperate. I can get any girl at school that I want."

"Uh huh." Kimiko said, looking at the ground as the two of them exited the field. She watched him place the lock back onto the gate before closing it. She waited for him to turn the set of keys to the janitor before the two of them headed to the front of the campus. "Do you normally drive to school?"

"Normally? I guess it depends whether or not I'm hanging out at Omi's or Clay's. Sometimes, I prefer walking. I always like the breeze," he said, not sure why he even said the last bit. "Or if I have a date or something." Looking at her, he wished he hadn't said that. He always enjoyed making girls jealous, but he didn't want to do it to her. There was something about her that made him look at things in a different light.

He was always trying so hard to keep his reputation as a lady's man, but also as the guy at school who had scored with every chick that he never ever thought about himself. His feelings. Or anyone else's for that matter.

Kimiko looked at him. "You okay, Rai?"

"Hmm?"

"You look… confused. Do you not know where you parked your car?" She poked him in the shoulder in a teasing way.

"I know where it is… I was just… thinking."

"Hmm. Okay. Whatever you say, Rai." She smiled at him.

He looked at her and he knew he was doomed. He was taking her out on a date. And if the date actually goes well, as much as he prays that it doesn't, he might end up wanting more than just scoring with Kimiko.

She just wasn't any girl he always saw as he walked through hallways. She was the girl that any guy would want to be with. Not for wealth, connection to Toshiro Tohomiko, or popularity, but that wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was different this time. He wanted her.

And then he just realized, he was playing a new game where new rules were very much different from the game he was a master at. Because this game, rules were different. And he was sure he didn't know the rules at all.

"If I'm not mad at you after tomorrow's '_date'_, do you want to come to some party my dad's hosting?"

He looked at her, a sly grin appearing on his face. "Are you asking me out?"

"What? No! As friends. Keiko's going. I'm asking Clay and Omi to go too. I think it's going to be fun to watch Omi annoy daddy's business partners and Clay all southern hospitality to them."

He cracked a smile as he unlocked his car. As he got in the car, two words kept replaying in his head like a broken record.

_As friends._

_So this is what karma feels like_, he thought as he slams the door to his car. Looking at Kimiko, he thought to himself. _As friends, right? Well, we'll see about that._

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><p><strong><em>AN: _**So... Another chapter to the fic. You do not know how badly I want to just write about how Rai and Kim falls in love... but then it would seem rush. And I hate making things sound rush/unrealistic. So... let's continue doing it the slow, old fashion way.

Keiko has a crush on an anonymous guy. It shall be revealed.

Also. This fic needs more Clay and Omi appearances. The next one will have an appearance of Clay, Omi, possibly Keiko (because she is Kimiko's friend)... but I know one thing's for sure...

Thank you for putting up with me and my random updating... I just post new chapters whenever I finally think of the scenes for the chapter.

And if you want to read a cute RaiKim fic I've written, I suggest you read: _Flowers_. It's very cute and sweet. Trust me.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.** **I'm fueled by reviews. :3**


	5. Chapter 4: Getting To Know You

I now present you with Chapter 4. I want to thank all of those who have read the last chapter (and the previous chapters). It always makes me smile to know that someone is reading my fics.

No. I still don't own Xiaolin Showdown. The second that that changes, I'll make sure to let you guys know. XD

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Getting To Know You<br>**

Clay Bailey leaned against the oak tree, chewing on a toothpick out of habit. His hat was covering half of his face as he was about to doze off into an afternoon nap. Before he could even think about juggling livestock from one of his father's many ranches, he heard footsteps becoming louder. Someone was approaching him.

Lifting the hat, his right eye opened to take a peak of who was standing there next to him. Realizing it was Keiko, he sat up right away. Blushing, the boy pulled the hat into his hands. "What brings you to this lake on a _fine_ Saturday?" he asked, smiling at her.

"I was supposed to be hanging out with Kimiko, but she has a date with _Rai,_" Keiko spat.

"You make it sound like Kimiko has a date with the devil," Clay said, causing Keiko to giggle.

"She might as well," Keiko replied, sighing. Running her hands through her hair, she said, "Do you know why Raimundo is so interested in her?"

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Now, Keiko. Rai's just being Rai. You and I both know him to be who he is." His baby blue eyes clouded up right away, before he said, "Why are you so fixated on trying to keep them apart?"

She froze. Stammering a bit, she said, "I just don't want Kimiko to get hurt, Clay. Like you said, we both know him to be who he is. And if he's still himself, I'm pretty sure it won't be long before Kimiko's name is on that list of girls who Raimundo played with before finding someone else to toy with."

"But you also told Raimundo to stay away from her," Clay reminded, causing her to blush.

"You know?"

"Rai told me," Clay said. "I am his best friend, _after all_." His Texas accent enunciated on those last few words.

Sighing, she leaned back against the tree, causing their shoulders to brush. She looked up at the sky, where a few clouds were drifting on by. "I only told Raimundo a bit about this, but… There's something about Kimiko. Any guy who meets her ends up falling for her."

"I doubt that that's true," Clay told her, smiling at her. He knew for a fact that he wasn't going to fall for Kimiko. "Kimiko's a lovely girl, but there are other lovely girls out there too. And it's Rai, we're talking about here. Hell will have to freeze over before Raimundo will ever settle down with just one girl. He's not the kind of guy to fall in love easily."

"I tried so hard to keep them away from each other," Keiko muttered, still looking at the clouds. She looked over at Clay, who was now looking at the clouds as well. "Why won't they listen to me?"

"Perhaps they're deafer than my relatives after listening to my aunt Pearl singing karaoke for two hours straight," Clay said, smirking at her.

Keiko let out an exaggerated sigh. "Do you know what's going to happen on their date?"

"I'm kind of curious myself," Clay said. "Omi said that he was going to keep an eye on him. He must have a liking for Kimiko."

Keiko's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

Seeing the hopeful look in her eyes, he blushed as he said, "Really."

"Then let's go find Omi!" Keiko said, standing up on her feet. "What are you waiting for?"

He hesitated. He really didn't want to barge in on his friend's date, or spy on him. But he couldn't say no. Especially to her. Getting up to his feet, he placed his hat on his head before saying, "Nothing, really. I was just thinking where we can find Omi."

-x-

"You look shocked," Raimundo said, examining her wide sapphire eyes. He chuckled as he sat down across from her in the small booth they had taken in the corner of the small diner.

"Not shock," she replied, clicking her tongue. "_Surprised_. I would have pegged you as a guy who takes the girl to the movies on the first date."

"Nah, chica. Why would I spend two hours sitting in one position, straining my eyes to stare at a giant screen while the sound's blasting in my ears, when I can spend them looking at the world's most beautiful pair of eyes ever?" He smirked a bit when he noticed a blush slowly appearing on her face.

"And where did you pick up those pick-up lines?" she asked coolly.

Raimundo chuckled nervously as he ran his hand through the back of his head. He then said, "I guess if my soccer career doesn't work out as well as I hope, I can write a book on lines that work."

She laughed. "The only people that would actually find that book useful are people who are hopeless at love."

He snorts. "I doubt it. They worked on you, didn't it?"

She scowls at him. Before she could say something back, a waitress appears.

Her chestnut locks were tied up into a high ponytail, revealing her high cheekbones and hazel eyes. She narrowed them the second she saw who was sitting across from Kimiko. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"We're going to order to go," Raimundo said, casually.

"To go?" Kimiko frowned. She had thought that the date was going to occur inside the small diner.

"Yeah. You know that I enjoy the outdoors more," Raimundo said. "I just love the feel of the breeze in my hair and against my skin."

Annoyed with the fact that the two of them were taking up her time, she decided to cut in. "So, what do you guys want?"

-x-

"Are they still following us?" Kimiko asked, as the two of them started to walk down a sidewalk. Every often, one of them would look behind their shoulder to see Keiko, Clay, and Omi a few yards away, hiding behind whatever that was lying on the street.

Raimundo casually glanced over his shoulder. He smirked when he saw Clay trying to hide behind the narrow, wiry tree, while Omi and Keiko hid behind the newsstands. "Yeah. We got chrome-dome hiding with Asian Barbie behind the newsstand. And Clay's hiding behind the tree."

"Why can't they leave us alone?" Kimiko muttered. "It's not like anything's going to happen." When the two of them had left the small diner with sodas for the both of them, and a burger for Raimundo, they had spotted Clay, Omi, and Keiko right away, hiding behind an old automobile that was parked in front of the diner.

"It's not?" A devilish grin appears on his face as he wagged his thick eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

She slapped him gently on the shoulder. "It's not." Rolling her eyes, she finally said, "I'm only going out on a date with you because of the bet." She took a sip of soda as she watched him, waiting for his reply.

"And then I'm going to show you my good qualities and you'll fall in love with me," he said, causing her to snort.

"As if, Rai. Do you even have any good qualities?" she asked. Despite trying to tease him, it sounded like she was being rude to him.

"Why don't you wait and find out," he said, giving her a sly wink, only to earn himself another slap on the arm. "Alright, alright! Jeez, girl. Can't you take a joke?"

She giggled. "I don't know. Can you actually make a joke?"

"Touché." He turned to look over his shoulder. "They're still following us. Want to give them a run for their money?" A sly grin appears on his face.

She grinned. "I kind of actually want to. If they can't trust me or you to be alone with each other, we might as well give them what they want." She shut her mouth after she said that and looked at her shoes to avoid his gaze. _Why did I just say that? Am I that stupid? Or is he really starting to look really cute? Wait, no. Don't fall for him, Kimiko. You know what Keiko said. Screw Keiko's words. I'm old enough to trust my own instincts. Then again, Keiko has known him longer… Ugh. _She slowly looked up to notice Raimundo staring at her, his forest green eyes intensely looking into hers.

_Why is she looking at me like that? _He thought. _Girls never look at me like that. Their eyes are so dull compared to hers. She has the most beautiful eyes in the world. _In a teasing tone, he said, "I didn't know you want to make out with me… _that badly._"

A scowl appears on her face. "You're so full of yourself, Raimundo."

"I know. I can't help it. I'm just so good looking," he joked. "Relax, Tohomiko." He put his arm on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling the heat quickly spread from his fingertips up towards his chest. He pulled away quickly. "You're Keiko's friend. I would never do anything to hurt you." He didn't know whether it was an empty promise or not. She was supposed to be one of his latest scores, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. She looked so innocent that it made him feel like he was a the big, bad wolf.

"They're still following us," Kimiko muttered, looking over her shoulder. She clenched her fists, causing her soda cup to crumple up.

"Take it easy, girl," Raimundo muttered, prying the crumpled cup out of her hands. Throwing it into the trashcan beside her, he grinned. "Score!" He whooped, pumping his fists into the air. Realizing that he was receiving odd looks from her, he said, "It's something I've been doing since freshmen year. I've never missed a shot since."

"Wow. Soccer _and_ trash basketball. That's pretty impressive, Raimundo. What can't you do?" she teased.

"Get a girl to like me."

She laughed at what he said. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Girls pretend to like me, but they don't really know me. In fact, I don't even know me. I guess I'm tired of trying to figure myself out, I become the person everyone thinks I am," he said. He blushed right away. "I never told anyone that before."

"It seems like you've been telling me things that you've never told anyone else before," she giggled, slightly blushing. She felt honored with the fact that he would trust her, and not one of his best friends, with personal and private issues of his. "What else have you not talked about to anyone else?"

He cracked a grin at her. "Many things, girl. But it's not important."

"Sure it is," she said, smiling at him. "Tell me all about yourself, Rai."

He raised a brow at her. Never had a girl in his life ever asked him about him. Every girl he has went out on a date with only talked about their hair, what their best friend had said, and would make snarky comments on some passerby's shoes. "I have seven older brothers, and one younger sister."

"Eight siblings? Wow," Kimiko muttered, her eyes slightly bulging. "I don't even have one."

"That gives you more time in the showers," he says, grinning. "And less people to get pissed off when you use all the hot water." The two of them had resumed walking once again, still keeping an eye every once while on their friends who were trailing behind them in a discrete manner. "Now, tell me something about you." He was silently hoping that he wasn't going to regret saying so.

"I haven't seen my dad since we moved into our new house," Kimiko said shyly.

He frowned. "Are you serious? That's been, like, a week. How can you go for a week without seeing your dad?"

"Daddy's busy with work and his business meetings," Kimiko said, chewing on her lower lip. "He's _always_ busy, drowning himself in his work and company…"

"Why?"

"You don't want to know…" she trailed off, looking at her shoes.

He froze. She was on the verge of tears, and he knew it. He remembered his oldest brother, Robert, telling him that the best time to 'score' with girls were when they were weak and vulnerable due to the fact that it's easier to take advantage of them. But he just couldn't do that right then. So he stood there, feeling a bit uncomfortable until he said, "Maybe I do want to know. Tell me." He sat down at the bench for the bus stop, and motioned for her to do the same.

"Everyone knows that my father is a single man," she said quietly. "A widowed man."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. I never knew her." Her sapphire orbs sparkled with tears. "My mom and dad were madly in love, from what my grandmother told me. She told me that they were both freshmen at college, who met in the library. They both had the same taste in books, and wanted to get their hands on this one book. From what grandma told me, mom made a promise that if he let her check out the book first, she'll hand deliver it herself to him. Of course, dad was stubborn and wanted to read the book right then. So in the end, they made a system."

"And that was?" He was curious why she was so teary, especially when she was telling such a cute story about how her parents had met.

"They'd meet in the library to give the book back and forth. Dad always tells me that he finished the book quickly, but he wanted to see my mother more, so he pretended to not be finished with it. From what grandma told me, mom also finished the book quickly. He asked her out later that semester." She looked up at the clouds when she said that. "They married after their senior year in college." Her voice went dry and raspy, causing her to stay silent for a few minutes.

"It was a choice," she finally said, causing him to frown. He knew better than to interrupt her. "It was either her or me."

"What do you mean?" he asked; his voice full of concern.

"Grandmother never fully explained it to me. All she told me was that the doctor who was there had told my father that it was either me or my mother." He could see a teardrop trailing down her cheek. "Something happened. There was a complication. It was either my mother's life or mine."

He exhaled sharply. He was breathless, shocked. He knew from a few magazines and articles on the Tohomikos to know that there wasn't a Mrs. Tohomiko, due to the fact that she had passed away many years ago. But he, like many others, didn't know the reason to her death.

"Of course, my dad was in love with mom. He wanted to save her, the love of his life. But she wanted him to save me. She knew she wouldn't bear it if I didn't survive, and she did. Because I was _their_ child. A mother's love for her child is the purest love out of them all. She made him promise that it would be me that would survive. Sixteen years later, here I am."

He was now looking at the clouds, watching them drift by slowly. "Does Keiko know?"

She shakes her head, wiping her tears away with her wrist. "Like I said in detention, _'Nobody knows me—the real me. Even Keiko doesn't fully know the real me._' You're the only person I've ever told." She cracked a small, half-smile at him. "Guess I trust you with information I can never tell anyone else too."

He gives her a small smile back in return. He wished she didn't tell him what she had just told him because now it made him feel crummy that he had even wanted to score on her in the first place. Because it made him realize that the girls he had previously scored on all had feelings, lives, and what not. They weren't just games or toys to be played with. They were human beings. _I guess it's time I start acting like a human being too, huh?_ He sighed, furrowing his brows together. _I knew that this girl would be the death of me._

"I'm glad that you can confide such secrets with me," he finally said.

"Of course. Girls tell their gay best friends everything," she said, trying to make light of the situation.

He scowls. "I'm going to kill that Keiko for planting the idea that I'm gay—" Before he could even finish, they had heard a scream from down the street.

The two of them jumped up from the bench right away. They looked at each other, both with panic in their eyes.

Her heart was pounding rapidly as she started running towards the direction of the scream. "That sounded a lot like—"

"Keiko. I know," he replied, sprinting ahead of hers due to the fact that he had longer legs than hers.

When they got towards their friends, they both froze right away and skid to a stop. They were both shocked at what was happening in front of them.

"What the hell?" Raimundo breathed as Kimiko clung onto his arms. He could feel the heat travel throughout his body, but he ignored it as he shouted, "What's wrong with the gecko?"

Kimiko's eyes narrowed in on Keiko, who had apparently passed out. Clay was carrying her on his back, keeping her from falling on the ground. He grunted, "Omi had to bring that darn gecko with him. Keiko saw him the second he revealed himself and she freaked out."

Before he could even say another word, the 'gecko' transformed into a bigger version of himself. "Gecko? I assure you that I, Dojo Kanojo Cho, am_ not_ a gecko." And with that said, everyone, besides Omi, had their jaws wide open.

"Guys, I have a confession to make," Omi said weakly, noticing the shocked expressions on his friends faces. "Dojo is not a gecko. He is… a dragon." Dojo, by then, had returned to his smaller side before wrapping himself around Omi's shoulder.

"A dragon?" Kimiko muttered, stunned. She pulled away from Raimundo, shaking her head. "No." She looked at Raimundo for a brief second. "This can't be." Overwhelmed with the fact that a dragon was in front of her, she turned around and ran off.

Raimundo glared at his friends. "You guys _had_ to follow us. I thought you were my friends. Why can't you trust me for once? I wasn't going to do anything!" He looked over his shoulder and sighed. "Kimiko! Wait!" He took off, running after Kimiko. He had to make sure that she was going to get home, safe. He knew that her father wasn't going to be pleased to find out that his daughter ran home, instead of being accompanied by a friend.

Clay whistled, shaking his head. "Boy, for such a small girl, she can run pretty fast." He knew that he couldn't run after Raimundo or Kimiko, even if he had wanted to. Keiko was still passed out, and he didn't want to drop her just to chase after his friends. He looked at Omi to realize that he had an odd look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

Omi looked at his friend and said, "Keiko screamed like a little girl because she saw Dojo." He looked at the dragon as he said that. "Because Dojo immediately got a rash."

"What's so bad about rashes? Everyone gets them from time to time," Clay said, sounding a bit nervous. Up until then, he had always thought that Dojo was a gecko, just like everyone else who had been at Omi's home. He shifted his weight onto his other leg, hoisting Keiko a little higher on his back so that she wouldn't slip off.

"It's part of this prophecy," Omi whispers softly. He remembered stumbling upon a scroll that was hidden in the libraries, shoved behind many other scrolls in a manner that made it obvious that someone had hastily hid it there. "It means that we're all in danger." Looking at Clay, he said, "We have to go talk to Master Fung about Dojo's _rash_."

"Don't I get a say in this?" Dojo muttered. He had figured by then that it was okay for him to talk, now that Clay knew that he could talk. He didn't have to pretend to be a lizard, gecko, or any other animals that people presume that he was anymore.

Omi looked at the dragon before looking at Clay. "No. It is too late." His voice was grave and silent. He had only a few verses on his mind.

_The presence of the dragon of fire completes the circle and unleashes every true potential of man and beast,_

_A dragon so pure that it brings danger to both sides of darkness and light,_

_Death and darkness for the side of light if the pureness of the dragon is at its very least,_

_Goodness and tranquility for the world if the dragon of fire's purity is at its height._

_When the circle is complete, a dragon shall signal the beginning of the end,_

_Only light can be seen in darkness, and only fire can be fueled as it can be mend._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I didn't mean for it to be a cliffhanger-ish kind of ending for this chapter. ARGH. Don't kill me now.

At least you get a better look at the prophecy-I suck at writing prophecies and things that rhyme. It took me a long time to finds words that rhyme that would go with how I want things to go.

If you're confused, Rai and Kim's date was when they were walking around town, hanging out and such. They're bonding, so yay!

If it was some other girl he was going out on a date with, he would have just gone to the movie theater because it would mean having to spend an hour or two not having to listen to her go on and on about shoes (I don't know why, I just see Raimundo as the type who would date girls who's IQ is their age before coming to realization that Kimiko's the girl for him).

Jack Spicer and Ashley (Katnappe) will be in the next chapter... because the next chapter is when things become more interesting... between Rai and Kim, of course.

Everything becomes more interesting from now on, of course. Sorry that there wasn't so much RaiKim in this chapter... I just had to make sure that everything stays on track for what I have in plan for this story.

**Thank you for reading! Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated! **


	6. Chapter 5: To Crash A Party

So... I want to thank all of you guys who have commented or read the last chapter or the previous ones. It really means a lot to me.

Now, keep in mind that I tend to type things in one day... and that this chapter, I typed it in the span of four days due to how busy my week(end) was. I won't bore you with details of how it went... let's just say that I won a lot of candy at the Halloween Event for the _Cha Cha Slide._ With that said, I give you the fifth chapter.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: To Crash A Party<strong>

He couldn't believe it. He was chasing after her. _Karma must love irony_, he thought as he stopped to catch his breath. "If I'm such a great soccer player, why am I out of breathe already?"

He sighed. He had to talk to her. He needed to understand _why_ she ran away. Sure, he was freaked out too. Just like everyone else, he had believed that the gecko was actually a gecko, not a dragon. _At least I didn't run away—wait, I did… but for different purposes, of course. I'm trying to make sure she's alright… I'm not afraid of the stupid 'dragon'._

His phone started to play his ringtone, startling him. He knew right away that his younger sister had tampered with his phone, changing his cellphone's ringtone to a Justin Bieber song. "Hello?" he asked, halfheartedly. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone else. He wanted to focus on finding Kimiko.

"Mom wants you home now," his younger sister, Zoe, said.

"But—"

"She said, 'no buts'," Zoe sang in a sharp tone, causing Raimundo to wince. "She wants you home now. She has to work a late night shift again, and dad's still sick and out cold with the pain medication he just took."

Raimundo sighed. Ever since Edwin, the sixth Pedrosa, moved out, it has just been Raimundo, Zoe, and his parents at home. All of his older brothers have either gotten married, were in college, or was working. Being the youngest brother out of all of them, it was his responsibility to take care of Zoe, his eight-year-old sister.

"I'll be home soon. Tell her not to have a cow."

"Will do, Rai."

-x-

"Don't let Zoe out of your sight," his mother tells him before planting a warm, wet kiss on the crown of his head. She then kissed the top of Zoe's head before walking out the front of the door.

"Edwin might stop by later," Zoe said as the two of them walked towards the kitchen.

"That's cool," Raimundo said half-heartedly. He looks at his younger sister to realize that she had a funny look on her face.

"Normally, you would be happy to see him," Zoe said. "What's wrong?"

"That's cool," Raimundo said, once again, earning himself a punch in the arm from his sister. He hissed in pain as he pulled away from his sister. "What was _that_ for?"

"That's for not listening to me," Zoe snaps, scowling at her older brother. She sighs. "What's wrong, Raimundo?"

"Nothing," he said, smiling at his younger sister. He was thankful that Zoe was his sister. He felt that he had enough brothers already who never wanted to be around when it came to topics about feelings. Zoe, on the other hand, was someone who loved listening to him talk about his problems.

"Tell me," she demanded, her green eyes burning into his. "Or else."

He smirked at her. "Oh, I'm so scared. What is little Zoe going to do to her big brother?" Receiving another scowl, he chuckled as he ruffled her hair. "Don't worry kiddo. I was just kidding. I'll tell you everything, only if you have advice on what I should do."

She smiles at him. "If you think advice from an eight-year-old is a good idea."

"Not really, but you're the only person I can get advice from," he said, smiling at her. He wondered what it was like for Kimiko, to not have a sibling or sister to share secrets too.

"Aww, thanks Rai. I feel so appreciated," she said. She points to the chair next to hers. "Sit and tell me everything."

"You act too mature for your age, you know that?" Raimundo said as he sat down to the chair she had just pointed at. "I'm worried about this girl—"

"Is she pregnant?" Zoe immediately interrupts, causing Raimundo to shoot her a dirty look. "I kid, I kid."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know why I'm so… fascinated by her."

"You're a guy, Rai. Do the math."

"Zoe!" He couldn't believe his sister would say such a thing.

"Sorry! Continue?" She gives him a meek smile, knowing that he would forgive her, no matter what.

"I know that you know about my _'reputation' _and what not, Zoe, but you know me better than that," Raimundo muttered in slight disbelief. He smiled at his sister. "But it's nice to know that my reputation is known in elementary too."

"Most kids at your school have brothers and sisters at mine, you know," Zoe said, smiling at him.

"When they pick on you, tell me who they are so I can beat the crap out of their older siblings," Raimundo said, causing his sister to blush.

"Let's not get sidetrack here," she said, smiling at him. "Tell me, who is this girl?"

He muttered Kimiko's name softly, so softly that she couldn't hear him. He blushed when he saw the confused look on his sister's face. "Kimiko," he said bluntly, scowling at her. "Happy?"

"_The_ Kimiko Tohomiko?" his sister barked, causing him to look at her, stunned. "As in the daughter of Toshiro Tohomiko, the owner—"

"Yeah. I don't need any more information on him," Raimundo said. "You see, I'm worried about her…"

"I don't think there's anything to be worried about. She has everything!" his sister exclaims.

He couldn't help but frown at his sister's words. _She doesn't have a mother… _"Not true," he said.

"How would you know?" Zoe asked, curious now. She was always one who enjoyed gossip.

"I guess you can say that the date I had earlier today… with Kimiko. _If _you can call what we had a date."

"No way!" Zoe whispered, shocked. Before she could pester him with questions, their older brother, Edwin, walks in. He was tugging at his tie as he dropped his keys onto the kitchen counter.

He froze when he noticed his two younger siblings sitting at the kitchen with their eyes fully on him. "What's going on, guys?" He pulled out the chair on the other side of Zoe and sits down right away.

"Why don't you tell us what's with the penguin suit," Raimundo shot back, grinning at his brother.

"This? You guys remember Marcos, right? My best friend? Well, he hooked me up with this _sweet _job at the Tohomiko's mansion. They have this sick party or benefit tomorrow night."

"That? Kimiko told me about that… but I don't think she wants me to come anymore," Raimundo said, causing his siblings to stare at him.

"You have to go!" Zoe said, confusing Edwin even more. "Kimiko _invited_ you. Who would say 'no' to a Tohomiko?"

"Why does he have to go?" Edwin asked, raising a brow. "Why did Kimiko _invite_ you? I heard that those parties cost a lot just to get in. How did you get in?"

"Because they're dating," Zoe said, causing Raimundo to roll his eyes.

"We're not dating," Raimundo muttered, ticked off.

"They went on a date," Zoe sang, giggling like a young school girl. "_Today_, actually."

Edwin's brow rose as he slowly said, "So why is she mad at you?"

"Who said she's mad at me? I said no such thing. I just don't think she wants to see me."

"Nonsense. Go," Zoe said.

"But won't it be awkward if I go and then realize that she doesn't want me there?"

"Well," Edwin said, grinning at his younger brother. "I have an idea… but I might have to pull some strings. Are you at all interested? Because we do need more men on this."

"What do I have to do?" Raimundo asked, a bit afraid for what his brother was having in stores.

"We're going to have to _crash _a party…" His brother gives him his devilish grin, and Raimundo knew right away that he was in for it.

-x-

Jermaine scowls as he fixed his tie. "The things I would do for my homies." He shot Raimundo another dirty look before adjusting his tie once more.

"Sorry for the short notice," Raimundo muttered as he puts on a tie similar to Jermaine's. "I just needed someone to work with me. Plus, Omi and Clay were already on the list for coming…"

"I'm hurt. What happened to homies before Omi's?" Jermaine interrupted, putting his hands on his chest, faking a puppy-dog face. He then chuckled and said, "It's cool, bro. I just don't understand why we have to dress like this."

"We're waiters, man," Raimundo muttered, shaking his head. "In the end, Edwin profits from all of this."

"You better pay me for your time," Jermaine muttered, fixing the collar of his jacket. "Because I am not cheap."

Raimundo rolled his eyes. "We'll see what we can do about that later. Now, we have to go before the catering van ditches us."

-x-

Kimiko's eyes widen as she heard the loud crash echoing throughout the house. She grabbed her robe and threw it on as she ran out of her room, running to see what the noise was. _Of course… the party._ She sighed, dreading the fact that she had forgotten about the party as she watched maids scurrying around to put up decoration in the right place, and the hired help pushing tables and chairs into the ballroom. After what had happened during her so-called date with Raimundo, her thoughts had been all over the place.

"I can't wait for this party," Keiko shouted towards Kimiko, who was still standing at the top of the staircase. She was already wearing her black dress and stilettos, with her black and pink hair up in a messy bun. "_Rich _boys, _cute, _rich boys." She sighed, already thinking of how the night might go.

"And snobby ones too. Don't forget," Kimiko reminded. She frowned when she realized how calm her friend was. "Do you remember anything from yesterday?" She was curious why her friend hadn't been freaking out or panicking about what had occurred yesterday.

"No. Not really," Keiko muttered. "It's all a blur. One minute, I was with Omi and Clay… next thing you knew, I was at home with my mom telling me that Clay brought me home. She said he was a Southern gentleman."

Kimiko couldn't help but giggle. Clearing her throat, she asked, "You don't remember anything at all?"

"No…" Keiko's dark eyes widen as she raised a brow. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"No… not at all." Kimiko forced a smile onto her pale face. Deciding it was time to change the subject, she asked, "Do you want to help me find an outfit for tonight?"

"Totally! We're going to make sure we both are the most gorgeous girls at the party tonight."

Kimiko rolled her eyes. It was always like Keiko to make a simple task into a giant project. She wondered if Raimundo was going to show up to her father's party. After all, she did invite him.

-x-

"This party's lame," Ashley hissed as she and her boyfriend walked around the crowd of people. "Why are we exactly here again?"

"My parents forced me to come," Jack muttered, folding his arms against his chest.

"You mean your mom forced you to come," Ashley muttered, silently cursing herself into agreeing to come. "You're such a momma's boy," she sneered as the two of them walked towards the balcony.

"Am not!" Jack snapped, rolling his eyes. He looked around. "I just need to find my mom. Dad and mom wanted me to meet someone here. Apparently, dad has some surprise he's going to announce at this party. Besides, be thankful that I only asked mom to let you come. If Wuya and Chase had come, this party would have become a drag."

"Speaking of your mother, here she comes…" Ashley hissed. "Hi, Mrs. Spicer! It's wonderful to see you."

"Likewise, Ashley," Mrs. Spicer said, nodding at her. "Jack, honey, we want you to come with us. Bring your… friend if you want as well."

"Where are you taking us?" Jack asked as he followed his mother. He glanced at his girlfriend who wore a scowl on her face. He watched as his mother dragged them through the crowd, until she spotted his father. His father was talking to a short Japanese man as they walked there.

"Toshiro, this is our son, Jack," Mr. Spicer says, introducing his son to him.

Jack's jaws drop. "_The _Toshiro Tohomiko?"

"The one and only," the short Japanese man replies.

"I love your gaming company!" Jack blurted out. "You're my inspiration. All of my work is inspired by you, sir!" He started to ramble a bit, until his girlfriend elbowed him directly in the stomach.

"Your daughter attends the same school that our son Jack does," Mrs. Spicer says, looking at her son. Her small, heart shaped face was framed by curls of coppery red hair. She glances around. "Where is Kimiko anyway?"

Toshiro Tohomiko frowns when he realized he hasn't seen his daughter—or her slightly annoying best friend. He would have normally noticed his daughter or Keiko right away. He quickly became concerned. _Where is she? _He thought. He had wanted to introduce Kimiko to his new business partner, Donovan Spicer, right away to her.

-x-

"You're trying to see if he came, aren't you?" Keiko said, rolling her eyes as she puts her hands on her hips. She glances over Kimiko's shoulder to glance at the list on the clipboard. Just as she had presumed, Raimundo's name hadn't been checked off at all.

"I guess he's bored of me now," Kimiko said, sounding somewhat disappointed. She was upset that she had told him her deepest secret only for him to lose interest right afterwards. _Does he find me boring now? Did I scare him away because he was only looking for something not so serious? That bastard—_

Keiko grinned. "That's great, Kimiko! Now that we have Pedrosa off your back, you can now focus on the cute boys at school."

Kimiko rolls her eyes at her friend. A sudden idea pops into her mind, and she decided to take advantage of what Keiko had said. "Well, who do _you _think is cute?"

Keiko opened her mouth, ready to answer when she narrowed her eyes. "_Nice _try, Kimiko… but I'm not _that _stupid."

Kimiko cracked a grin. "I just had to try…" She sighed. It was killing her; not knowing who Keiko liked. _What's the big deal? I probably know him anyway. Why is she keeping it a secret?_

Keiko looked at her and shrugged. "It's alright. You'll just never know who I like."

"But I will find out," Kimiko said, giving her friend a serious look. She then smiled and said, "Relax, Keiko. I was just kidding. You'll tell me when you want to tell me." She sighed as she handed the clipboard back to one of the employees that were working at her father's party.

"I guess you'll never know then." Keiko grinned, watching Kimiko frown.

"Keiko!" Kimiko stuck a tongue at her friend's face. She turned around to walk towards the restroom when someone slammed into her, causing her to fall on the ground. She looked up to see Ashley sitting across from her.

"Watch where you're going," Ashley spat as she stood up. She glared at Kimiko through narrowed eyes before walking off.

Kimiko looked down at her dressed and frowned, realizing that Ashley had spilt cherry soda on it. Keiko had rushed to her side and helped her up.

"I can't believe she did that to you. She totally did that to you on purpose—"

"I'm sure it's a mistake, Keiko," Kimiko murmured. She sighed. "I have a spare dress in my room. If my dad's looking for me, tell him I'll be down in just a few minutes."

Keiko nods. "Sure… and if I see a cute boy that's perfect for you, I'll let you know."

-x-

After heading up the stairs, she walked towards her room. She froze when she heard a crash coming from her father's room. Grabbing the vase on the hallway table, she held it up in the air as she walked towards the room. She kicked the door open to find that no one was in there. Only the window was open, letting in the breeze, which knocked over a vase in his room.

Sighing with relief, she put her vase down onto the ground, closed the window, and placed her father's vase back onto his night table next to a photograph of him and her mother during one of their college years. Turning around, she noticed someone was holding a golf club in his hands, wearing a ski mask over his face.

A scream escaped from her lips, but was drowned out by the music downstairs. She could feel her heart racing as she slammed her body into the masked figure, trying to knock the weapon out of his hands. She started kicking, kneeing, scratching, and doing whatever she could to keep herself from getting harmed while trying to get the weapon away from. The masked figure felt like he was made of steel as she tried to keep the figure away from harming her. The next thing she knew, she felt the masked figure go limp, falling on top of her. And that was when someone grabbed her and dragged her into her father's closet.

-x-

Her heart was beating fast in her chest as she felt him pin her against the closet wall. She was already worn out after fighting the masked figure and she knew that she didn't have enough energy to fight anyone else. _I'm going to die, _she thought, still panicking as hot tears welled up. That was when she felt him pull her into his arms.

"Shh… He won't hurt you anymore."

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><p><strong>AN: **Cliffhangers. I just love them. I actually finished 3 stories (on a different site) with a cliffhanger before... Let's just say, I love writing cliffhangers... I hate reading them. I just can't handle the suspense and dealing with the fact that I don't know what's going to happen.

That's why I tend to hate sequels of novels and series. It's because the first book of a novel could be fine with or without a sequel. It has a perfect ending and could just be a normal book, and not part of a series. The sequel has to be suspenseful enough for a purpose of the third book to be written.

Sorry that there wasn't any RaiKim in this fic. I was actually hoping for lots RaiKim for this chapter, but it couldn't work with what I'm planning. But at least I brought Jermaine's character into this.

I'm a fan of mystery-which is why the masked figure won't be revealed until later... like, much later. By then, I hope I have written enough hints for you guys to figure out who attacked Kimiko.

Until then, I have lots of homework to do.

**Thank you for reading! Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 6: Stay

Sorry that this chapter feels like it's not dramatic enough. I've been having a hectic week, and it's really late right now and I haven't started my homework yet… and I have a lot.

So… let's cut to the chase. Thank you for reading/reviewing this story. Now here's the latest installment of Bittersweet Love.

And no, I don't own Xiaolin Showdown. I wish I do, though.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Stay.<strong>

_"Shh… He won't hurt you anymore."_

She recognized that voice, but she couldn't put a finger on it out of panic and nervousness got her into a state of anxiety. Before she knew it, the world around her shattered into millions of pieces of darkness as she fell to the ground, blacking out.

-x-

"So that's how you found her?" Zoe muttered as she put an icepack onto Kimiko's forehead. She had been in the kitchen the entire party, since Raimundo was supposed to be watching over her as his parents went to work during the afternoon. She looked at Clay, who was sitting at the center of the small circle that was sitting at the foot of Kimiko's bed.

Clay nodded. He sighed as he said, "I was trying to look for the John. Little did I know, I ended up with a lot more on my plate than I'd normally would at a Steakhouse breakfast buffet."

Keiko folded her arms across her chest. "Shouldn't we go find who attacked her?" she demanded, pissed off that she wasn't there to defend her friend. She glanced at Raimundo, who had been quiet since he had found out that Kimiko had been attacked.

"I tried," Clay whispered as he fanned his face with his hat, "but by the time I ran out of the closet… the man was gone."

Raimundo frowned. "We _can't _let the man get away with that. Nobody should ever hurt Kimiko. _Nobody." And that includes me, _he thought to himself.

Jermaine raised a brow at his friend's words. He cleared his throat and said, "Why don't we all try to calm down first? If we all freak out about this—we'll all be paranoid to figure out what's going on."

Omi nodded at what Jermaine had to say. "Jermaine is right. Let's not dwell in the past." He sighed as he said in a silent, grave tone, "We should be more worried about our futures."

Keiko sighed. "Someone needs to wake her—maybe she knows who attacked her."

Zoe, clinging onto her brother's arm, said, "If this is the life of the rich and fabulous, I _so _do not want this."

"What I want to know is _how_ the person got in," Jermaine said, standing up. He started to pace back and forth beside Kimiko's bed. "Isn't this place secured? I mean, they forced every waiter at this party to show some proof that they are who they claim to be. They even have like body guards at every door and exits at this place. How can he get in?"

Clay sighed. "I have no idea." He looked at his friends with a worried look on his face. "What happens if they try to attack her again? If they can do it once, why not come back for round two?"

Zoe looked at the teenagers and couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I'll stay with her. You guys are acting like a bunch of babies for a group of teenagers." She looked over her shoulder to look at Kimiko. "I'll let you guys know when she wakes up."

"How?" Keiko demanded, a bit ticked off that an eight-year-old was taking her place by staying the night with Kimiko, when she should be the one who should do so.

"A phone, obviously." Zoe sighed in disbelief. "And I thought that high school kids were supposed to be smarter than elementary kids." She glanced at them and rolled her eyes. "Go home, you guys. Get some sleep. Kids have more energy than teenagers anyway, so I'll know when she'll be awake."

"Promise?" Raimundo asked, shocking everyone, including Zoe.

Seeing the look in her brother's eyes—a look of fear and worry—made her nod. "I promise, Rai."

-x-

Raimundo couldn't wait for his sister's call. He was just too worried, too afraid. _It should have been me that saved her_, he thought bitterly. _Not Clay. He always gets to be the hero of the day. _He sighed, realizing how stupid it was of him to want to be the one who saved her. She was once supposed to be one of his next scores to accomplish, someone who should mean nothing to him. It pained him to realize how she was becoming more important to him in the short time they've been around each other.

Grabbing his sweater and keys, he made it to the door. He wasn't one who could handle any suspense, to begin with anyway.

-x-

"Raimundo?" his sister muttered, rubbing her eyes. She glanced at the grandfather clock that was in the hallways. "It's almost midnight. What are you doing here?" Her eyes widen right away as the answer dawned on her. "_You're worried about her_."

"Of course I am, you dork," he muttered, ruffling her hair. "Everyone is. You know that I can't handle not knowing what's going on."

"She's still sleeping," Zoe whispered, looking at him. She finally said, "Kimiko's father doesn't even know I was here. He spends a lot of his time at his factory or in his studies." Realizing that her brother was giving her a funny look, she said, "I was just curious. You know how interested I am about the lives of the rich and famous."

Raimundo chuckled. "Can I go check up on her?"

"Why?" Zoe asked, frowning. "I can check up on her alone, Rai. I'm a big girl now."

He frowned. "But you'll always be my baby sister." He grinned at her, knowing how much she loathed being called a baby. "You know that I'm worried about her. Everyone is."

She sighed, realizing that her brother wasn't going to back down any time soon due to his stubbornness and determination. "Alright, fine. You should go check up on her. There was a water bed in one of the many guest rooms anyway. I'm going to go test out how durable it is." She gives her brother a devilish grin. "Pray that the mansion doesn't get flooded tomorrow."

He couldn't help but crack a grin as he watched her stalk off to one of the many doors that were down the hallway. "Will do, sis."

"Oh," she said, looking over her shoulder. "Promise me that you won't treat her like how you've treated other girls in the past. She's been through so much, Rai. Do you really want to put her through more?"

He looked at her, stunned. _Do I? No. Of course not. I don't want her to have to suffer any more than she has to already. I don't want to hurt her at all. _"For an eight year old, you sure don't act your age."

"Maybe it's time that I should act my age… but I've been too busy."

"With what?"

"With making sure that you don't screw up your life. Maybe after you're on the right path, Rai…maybe then, I can finally start mine."

"You sure that you're eight?" he joked, watching his sister walk away.

"I'm sure." She gives him a big childish grin before walking into one of the guestrooms.

-x-

He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms folded against his chest as he watched her in her peaceful slumber. It took him a few seconds to realize that her eyes were wide open, watching him carefully.

"Hi," he said, nervously. He scratched the back of his neck, slightly a bit uncomfortable. _Did she know that I was watching her? God, I hope she doesn't think I'm that creepy._

A small, meek smile appears on her face. "Hi yourself." She looked at the alarm clock next to her and said, "I had a funny dream."

"Was it about someone attacking you?" he asked, watching her carefully. He watched her smile disappear. "Because it actually happen."

It took her a few minutes to register the facts. Her blue eyes widen in fear. "It did?" she whispered quietly. She bit her lower lip as she mumbled a few words that he couldn't hear.

He nodded, walking into her room. He sat down at the foot of her bed, keeping his distance from her. "Clay was the one who saved you from whoever it was."

She looked at him. "Oh… no." She closed her eyes. "I was attacked—"

Realizing that she was stressing out, he inched closer to her. "Don't worry, Kimiko." _I'm here, _he thought silently, as he pictured himself in a shiny armor that knights would wear before riding horses or going jousting. He couldn't help but snort at the idea of him wearing so. "I'll make sure that that creep doesn't come back."

A wry smile appears on her face. "Really?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

He hesitated. "Really." He gives her a reassuring smile as he tried to reassure himself as well. He looks at the alarm clock near her bed. "But I think it's time for me to head on home—" The smile on her face disappears, causing him to add, "Unless you want me to stay?"

She looked at him and simply nodded. "Stay. Please?"

"That bed looks awfully small for two people." A sly grin appears on his face.

"You're awful," she muttered, crossing her arms. She points to the small chair at the side of her bed. "You can always sleep on the chair."

He scowls at her. "And make my butt sore?" He snorts. "I don't think so." He got up, ready to head for the door.

"Wait!" She immediately cried out, causing him to look over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"There's a comfortable chair for you to sleep in. It's in the guest room across from mine," she admits, biting on her lower lip.

"You really do want me around, don't you?" he asked, smirking. _She's just scared. She just wants a man to protect her. Thankfully, Raimundo is a man who doesn't like to disappoint the ladies._

She couldn't help but scowl at him. "I just can't sleep knowing that I was attacked."

"You seemed to do fine before I woke you up," he said, grinning at her. He nodded at her. "Alright-y then… I'll go get that chair."

She couldn't help but feel _safer _knowing that he was around to protect her. "Thank you, Rai."

"What for?" he asked, looking at her from the doorway.

"For staying the night," she admitted, watching him carefully with her sapphire eyes. No one had ever done that before for her, so she couldn't help but feel touched when he was okay with staying the night, just for her.

He nodded. "It's alright. I just have a question though."

"What's that?"

"Why did you run out on our date the other day?" he asked, only to get a pillow thrown at him. He chuckled as he dodged from the pillow. "Too soon to ask?" He waved at her before disappearing into the other room to get the chair.

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I get attacked… and he asks me that?" she muttered in disbelief. "_Well._" She couldn't help but think about the certain Brazilian boy who was going to stay the night, just for her. "He's not as bad as Keiko makes him sound," she whispered to herself, smiling a bit. "Huh."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **As you can see, Clay was the one who rescued her. Not Raimundo. Sorry to all of those who had wanted it to be Raimundo, but I had to make it Clay… Trust me, you'll understand why later.

Kimiko's falling for Raimundo… kind-of-ish. Heh. Well, it's a start. More RaiKim in the next chapter, I promise. And you'll finally know why she "ran out" on their date. I promise you that.

And there's more Heylin/Xiaolin dragon related things in the next chapter. I don't want to spoil anything. I will try to post the next chapter Saturday or Sunday. Perhaps Monday if I don't finish it in time.

This chapter's just adds to the transition of the next chapter and the chapters to come. Trust me… It gets _really_ interesting.

Just so you know, Raimundo still doesn't believe in love… but he knows that love _is _out there though. He just thinks that he'll never be able to have it though.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very appreciated. Seriously. :)**


	8. Chapter 7: Fuel The Fire

**A/N: **Sorry for posting this _way _after I the day I said I would post this. I've been sick, tired, and busy. This is the only free time I have. I'm trying to make this a short chapter... but I think I failed...Oh well.

Thank you for all of those who have clicked on the link to read this story, favorited this story, added this story to alert, or commented/reviewed this story. It really means a lot to me!

Almost everything is RaiKim on this chapter, and nothing hurts.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Fuel The Fire<strong>

She blinked rapidly as she opened her eyes. Stretching her sore and bruised arm so that her hand could shield her eyes from the sunlight that was shining through the window, she felt like a newborn baby. It has been a while since she had had a peaceful sleep.

She froze right away when she heard a clatter, followed by a random outburst of a few swears. Fully alert, she jumped out of bed and winced in pain at how badly her ankle was reacting when she put her weight onto it. With a clenched jaw, she wobbled over to her slippers.

Her slippers flopped onto the marbled floor as she walked out of her room, going towards where she had heard the noise. Quietly tiptoeing, she made it towards the bathroom where steam was coming out from behind the door.

Hearing the squeaks of the water being turned off and the pipes rustling, she hesitated. _Dad's not home, _was the first thing that popped into her head. _ The maids only work on weekends. The housekeeper comes at lunch. So who's in the bathroom?_

Clutching onto the doorknob, she felt her hands shaking as she thought to herself, _I should call the cops. Let them handle this. But by the time the cops get here… it might be too late. Stay calm, Kimiko._

_It's now or never. _Pushing the door gently, the door groaned in protest as it swung open. Her eyes widen at the sight of Raimundo getting out of the tub with just a towel hanging loosely on his hip.

"Uh—" She froze. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes crinkled as a smirk appears on his face. "_Enjoy what you see?"_

"Cover up!" she muttered, covering her eyes with her hands. "Do something—" She whirled around. "Just don't parade around my house _naked_!"

He snorted as he pulled a pair of jeans up. After zipping his jeans, he muttered, "Happy?"

She turned around and pried her fingers away slowly. "Not really." Her eyes were on his chest, taking in the sight. "Get dressed—"

"I am, _princess_," he replied, throwing the towel over his right shoulder. "Got a problem with it, then deal with it." He noticed that her eyes were on his chest, and he couldn't help but smirk. "But it seems like you don't have a problem," he added. He headed towards the door, brushing past her.

Ticked off, she went after him. "Get dressed! If my dad sees you like this, he'll get the wrong idea." A blush appears on her face at the thought of what her father could walk in onto.

He shrugged as a playful look appears on his face. "And what do you think he'll think when he gets a 'wrong idea'?"

"That we were having—" she stopped herself and whispered in a hoarse voice, "_sex_."

His eyes twinkled at the word. "You? Me?"

She scowled at him. "It'll never happen! I am _not _attracted to you _and _will _never _be—"

"Was that why you were staring at my chest?" he asked, grinning at her. "Because the only people in the world who stares are people who are attracted to things, and creepy psycho stalkers. So which one are you, because I don't peg you as a psycho stalker."

Her eyes narrowed. "I am _neither_! I do not want my dad or my housekeeper or _anyone _for that matter to get the wrong idea!"

He pulled the towel off his shoulder and shook his head, causing water to go everywhere. "Relax, Tohomiko. If I had wanted to give people the _wrong idea_, I would have done something that would clearly state it; not implied it."

She stared at him, looking at his face. "What would you have done?" she asked.

"Something like this," he whispered boldly, before grabbing the side of her shoulders. He tilted his head and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers, causing her eyes to widen in shock.

_This can't be happening, _she thought.

A soft moan escaped from her throat before she heard him clear her throat.

Opening her eyes, she found herself in her bedroom. _Of course it didn't happen, _she thought warily as she found herself staring at Raimundo, who was sprawled out in the giant chair. _It was just a dream._

"Had a nice dream?" he asked in a teasing tone, as if he knew what she was dreaming about.

She blinked. "I didn't have a dream at all," she lied. Stretching her arms over her head, she asked, "You stayed in here the entire night?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I was kind of hungry. Went down for a midnight snack. Had a nice conversation with your father."

Her eyes widened once again. "_Oh no." I am so dead. Daddy is going to kill me._

"Nothing to worry about, Kimiko," he told her as he got up from his chair. "I was just kidding. If I had bumped into your father, I would have been a dead man."

She sighed in relief before giggling a bit. "Okay."

"So. What were you dreaming about? Was it about yours truly?"

"Nope," she lied.

"Okay. If you're going to lie to me about what you were dreaming about, at least tell me the truth on one thing."

"And what's that?"

"Why did you run out on me on our date the other day?" He asked, grinning at her.

She looked away from his gaze. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I would," he insisted. _After the dragon incident, I would believe anything right now. And what Omi told me yesterday. _He blinked, waiting for her to reply.

She sighed. "If you insist, Raimundo. But you can't tell anyone. You have to keep this as a secret," she muttered as she nibbled on her lower lip. "My dreams sometimes warn me about what might happen."

He snorted. "So you're psychic?"

"No. I'm not," she replied. "They're like warnings—like omens. I have seen my death flash before my eyes many times before."

His eyes narrowed. "You need to go see a doctor—"

"Rai!"

"I was just kidding," he muttered. "But you saw how your death. How will you die?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"I don't know," she replied. "All I know is that in my dream, a dragon was involved. That dragon that was around Omi's neck was in my dream," Kimiko muttered. "Up until now, I thought it was just a nightmare."

"Maybe they're trying to warn you that it's _not _a nightmare?" he guessed, shrugging. "So why did your nightmares stop?"

She glanced at him. "When I moved here."

He stares at her. "We need to talk to Omi about this—"

"No!" she shouted. She grabbed a pillow and aimed it at his head, only for him to catch it. "I don't want you to tell anyone."

He sighed, fluffing the pillow in his hands. "What do you want me to do then, Kimiko?"

"Don't take it seriously, for starters," she replied. "Because up until now, I haven't."

"And look where it's gotten you," he replied, still fluffing the pillow. He could see the rage in her eyes as she tried to come back with something witty and smart. Before he could say anything else, he froze. "Do you smell smoke?" He looked down in his hands to realize the pillow in his hands were on fire.

"Shit!" he hissed, dropping the pillow onto the ground. Jumping to his feet, he was about to stomp out the fire when he realized that the flames were gone. Looking at her, he saw the fear in her eyes.

"There's something else I've been keeping a secret."

-x-

"Where are we?" Kimiko asked as she jumped off his back. He had carried her all the way from her house to a small forest area that was close to his home. She was starting to feel a bit nervous when she realized that he was taking her to a place where no one could hear her scream and where there weren't any signal for her phone or PDA.

"I'm taking you to this place I used to come to all the time as a kid," Raimundo replied. He let her jump off his back once he had stopped walking.

"Are you going to attack me and kill me and throw my body into the lake?" she asked, trying to make light of the situation.

He rolled his eyes. "If I had wanted to take advantage of you, I would have done it last night when I had easy access when you were asleep."

"Good point… So why are we here?"

"We need to work on your… abilities," he said hesitantly. He then added, "With fire."

-x-

"Stay calm, Kimiko," Raimundo muttered, standing from a distance; close enough so she could still hear him yet far enough for him not to get hurt. "Focus is the key to it all."

She sighed, frustrated. "I suck at focusing, Rai. I really do."

"This is the best place to practice," he replied. "Practice makes perfect."

"You can't get any better without practice… but practicing requires a lot of dedication and focus. I can't focus, Rai. I just can't."

He rolled his eyes. "You were able to make the pillow catch on fire—and that was only because you were mad but you can't create fire on your own because you can't focus?"

"Yes. Exactly. I don't see the point in this at all, Rai."

He sighed. "We don't want you to accidentally kill anybody now, do we?" After she shook her head, he smugly added, "That's why we need to practice."

She glared at him. "I'm trying, Rai. Focusing and I don't mix well. We're not on great terms." Her sapphire eyes locked with his forest green orbs; realizing that he was looking at her eyes.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen," Raimundo pointed out.

Blushing, she looked away. "Is this going to go in your pick-up lines book?" she asked as she looked at the ground, avoiding his gaze.

He shrugged. "Did it work?"

_Yes. _"No," she lied; hoping that he wouldn't notice the heat in her cheeks.

"Then no," he replied, smiling at her. "I wouldn't want to publish a book where I give shitty lines. I need lines with results."

She shrugged. "Fine by me. But if you keep on testing them on me, you won't get any _helpful_ results."

He snorted. "One of these days, they'll work on you. I just have to be patient."

"I never knew Raimundo Pedrosa was a man of patience," she replied, grinning at him.

"I'm really not," Raimundo replied sheepishly. "I hate waiting for things to come to me, but I'm learning. We all have to give a little to receive a little, Kimiko."

Her mind was all over the place. "What if something bad happens?" she asked.

He hesitated. "Well… Omi never told me about anything besides the fact that you're the dragon of fire… I'm sorry I can't be of any help for you, Kim."

She looked at him, chewing on her lower lip. She finally admitted, "I'm _scared._"

He looked at her. "Everybody's scared. It just takes guts to admit it." He sighed. Changing the subject, he said, "We don't have all day. Unlike your dad, my parents are really strict when it comes to curfew."

"How much time do we have?" she asked, a bit glad that the subject of their conversation had changed.

"About an hour, at most," he replied. He looked at her and shrugged. "I'd risk getting myself in trouble when it comes to you."

"Is that another line?" she asked, giggling a bit.

He looked at her. "Yes," he lied. "As if I would risk my butt for you." Another lie slipped out of his mouth quickly before he even realized what he had said.

She looked at him. "Let's get this over with. So tell me, what did Omi tell you about _'this'_?"

-x-

Hidden among the darkness and shadows of the tree; a figure watching the young two teenagers tease one another. Pulling out a small device that looked vaguely like a walky-talky, he pressed on the one of the two buttons.

"We have a problem," he whispered softly into the device.

"And that is?" a voice replied, mixed with static noises from the device.

Looking up from the device, the man realized that the two teenagers were now gone from his sight. "The dragon of fire is falling for that airhead."

The voice on the other end laughed. "It's just a phase. It' Stupid young teenage girls have crushes on airheads all the time. Give it some time. Phases don't last forever, you know."

"I don't know… I'd rather be safe than sorry," the man hissed into the device.

After a long, exaggerated sigh, the static voice replied. "What do you want me to do?"

"Find everything you can about a Raimundo Pedrosa. He doesn't know what a big role he plays for both sides."

"What do you mean?"

"Temptation. He can bring out the bad side in her." The man said into the device, matter-of-factly. "If the dragon of fire isn't pure anymore…"

"Then it's a good thing, correct?" the voice replied. "For our side, of course."

"Correct. But until then, we must keep tabs on him. Him and his idiotic ways." The man muttered. "We don't want the factors to change. We need to be one step ahead of them and their every move."

-x-

Raimundo grinned as he watched her stomp on the ground in madness. "Relax, Tohomiko. Take it easy and—"

"I swear, if you say 'focus' one more time, I will push you into that lake over there," she huffed, pointing to the lake that was a few meters away from them. Sighing in frustration, she said, "I can't do it. It only happens sometimes. Only when I'm really mad… or really emotional. It comes out randomly, not when I need it to."

"And that's why we need to _work _on it," Raimundo replied exasperated. He looked at her. "Extremely emotional right? What do you mean by that?" He had an idea on his mind, but he wasn't sure if he had enough guts to do it without fully knowing what extremities he was about to get himself into.

"You know… like when I feel _really _happy or _really _sad," she said, frowning a bit. With one brow raised, she asked, "Why?"

"Oh. I don't know. I was just thinking of ways to help _fuel _the fire," he said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh?" She folded her arms over her chest. "And have you thought of any?"

"Well.. I do have one idea," he admitted sheepishly.

"And that is?"

"This." Making sure that he was going to catch her off guard, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **You guys have no idea how badly I want to make this story fluffy. But I can't. This chapter is different from how I planned it originally, but I think it's better like this. I need to make sure that she knows about things. More drama and mystery.

Who is the mystery man that was spying them? And who was he talking to?

And I think some of you guys are confused on why Raimundo knows about the "dragon of fire" business. He doesn't fully know everything. He doesn't know about the prophecy, for starters. Omi's keeping a lot of things from his friends. Quite sneaky he is. Raimundo doesn't know that he's the "dragon of wind" or about other dragons. Omi told Raimundo about this, reluctantly, after she got attacked before the scenes of the previous chapter. Don't worry… I'll probably try to do a flashback scene with Omi's and Raimundo's conversation.

Again, this chapter is also another transition into the later chapters that will come. It'll continue to get more dramatic and mysterious from here.

I hope you guys enjoyed the RaiKim in this chapter. I felt like the other chapters lacked it and I wanted to make it up for the RaiKim I promised in the previous chapters. The funniest thing was, originally, the only RaiKim scene in this chapter was supposed to be the dream/her waking up to realize it was just a dream. But I wanted to add more for the lack of RaiKim in previous chapters.

Sorry if this felt a bit rushed… but you know that he was bound to pull a move sooner or later.

**Comment? Review? It'll be very much appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 8: Calm Before The Storm: Part 1

I give you _part 1_ of chapter 8. Remember, everything gets dramatic from here!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: Calm Before The Storm: Part 1.<strong>

_He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers._

Her eyes widen for a second, only for them to close as her body melts against his as her hands laced around his neck.

He knew that the tables were turning, that things were going to be different now. She had a different reaction to what he had expected, but he didn't care. All he could think about was the girl in front of him was kissing him back. He knew that she was the reason why he felt like he was on fire; and it was stronger than the other brief encounters before. He felt caught in an inferno and he couldn't help but enjoy it.

He would have enjoyed the kiss even more if the sky above them didn't turn gray, warning them that a storm was coming. The casual breeze that had been around them earlier had turned into harsh, jagged wind that made trees, bushes, and everything around them danced and swayed violently with the wind.

Pulling away from him, she said, "It looks like a storm's coming." She was chewing on her lower lip as she said, "We need to go before we get attacked by the rain."

Looking up at the sky, he couldn't help but wonder why the dark, cloudy, and windy sky came right after he kissed her.

"If I was superstitious, I would have believed that something bad is about to go down," he muttered before he followed her to help carry her home. "But I'm not."

-x-

Omi could sense the change in nature the second he felt the shift. Looking up from the ancient scrolls in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder why the sky was dark and gloomy. "Dojo!" he cried, dropping the scrolls onto the grass.

A green dragon wakes up flabbergasted at the sound of his name being called, causing him to fall off the hammock he was resting on. "You called me?"

Omi pointed up to the dark sky. "Isn't it supposed to be sunny today?" he asked, curiously.

Dojo glanced up at the sky. "Hmm, how odd. And I was already oiled up, ready for my tan."

"Dojo, you cannot get tans—"

"It's worth a try," Dojo interrupted, grinning. "You know we can't control the weather. The weather lady probably got it wrong."

Omi nodded. "Yes," he lied. "I agree with you." Deep down inside, he could feel that something bad was coming. He just couldn't put a finger on it yet. He just hoped that things will resolve themselves soon. "It's hard to be the only one who knows about everything," he muttered to himself.

-x-

"You think you can make it to your room in one piece?" he joked as he walked her to her doorsteps. "Or do I have to carry you up the stairs?"

She smirked at him. "Nice to see that cocky Rai's back. And to think, I thought sweet Rai was here to stay."

"Sweet Rai's too much of a pansy. He gets the ladies, but they're not interested past the point of just being friends," he said, grinning at her. "Cocky Rai wins the ladies."

She laughed. "I doubt it."

"Tell me then, Kimiko. Who did you fell for? Sweet Rai or cocky Rai?"

She rolled her eyes. "Neither." _I'm falling for you. Not just a part of you. You, _she thought.

"I doubt it," he said, grinning at her. "Girls can't resist my charm."

"I think this girl can," she lied, smiling at him. Getting off his back, she winced as she put weight onto her ankle. "I think if I put some ice onto it, it'll make some of the pain go away." She wanted to change the subject, badly.

He nodded. "Ice should help the swelling." He sighed. "Sorry that I couldn't help you with your 'powers'—"

"It's alright, Rai," she said softly. Unlocking the door with one of the many keys on her key-chain, she gave him a smile as she walked in. She froze when she saw a young girl sitting at the bottom of the stairs, talking to Keiko.

Both girls looked up when they saw her enter the living room, followed by Raimundo.

"Rai!" the girl next to Keiko shouted. "I thought you forgot about me!"

Looking at Raimundo, Kimiko asked, "Care to explain to me what's going on?" She was confused why a stranger was in her house with Keiko.

"This is my sister, Zoe," Raimundo said as he ruffled his younger sister's hair. "I guess I kind of did forget about you. I thought you were at home. Mom's going to have a cow when she finds out that you weren't home."

After saying his goodbyes to the girls, he left the front door with his sister bouncing along next to him.

He then realized that he had left his car parked in front of her house. "Why am I forgetting everything today?" he muttered in disbelief as he got to his car.

"That's because your brain turned into mush!" Zoe shrieked, giggling like a young child as she opened the door of his car.

Rolling his eyes, he got into his car. She jumped into the seat next to him. "So, what did you and Keiko talk about?" Raimundo asked as he checked his reflection in the mirror. He glanced at his sister who wore a funny look on her face as she buckled her seat belt.

After searching and racking her brains, she said slowly, "She kept on asking me about games."

"Games?" A frown appeared on his face. "What games? I don't have any soccer games coming up."

"That's what I told her!" Zoe muttered. "But Keiko kept on asking, 'What games is he playing?' 'What is his game?' and such."

"Why is that girl so interested in what I'm doing?" Raimundo muttered to himself.

"I don't know," Zoe replied. "But I don't trust her one bit."

Raimundo grinned at his sister. "You and I both."

-x-

"His sister let me in," Keiko said, after the two girls watched Raimundo drive off. "I had wanted to go over my outfit for the next few days."

"That would explain why you were here-"

"What were you doing out with him? Especially after what happened at the party…" She sighed, shaking her head. "Have you gone stupid?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"What I don't get is why you have to be so rude when it comes to him," Kimiko said, ticked off that her friend had cut her off.

"What?" Keiko's dark eyes flashed with anger.

"He's nice," Kimiko said, thoughtfully, slightly blushing as her mind started to wander, thinking about her kiss with him earlier that afternoon.

Staring at her friend, Keiko couldn't believe anything that was coming out of her friend's mouth. "Nice? _Nice? Nice?" _Putting her hands on her hip, she said, "Raimundo Pedrosa is anything but nice."

"He is!"

"I don't understand why you're defending him," Keiko said icily. "Unless something happened between the two of you," she said, jumping to conclusions.

"What?" Kimiko's eyes flashed, afraid that Keiko would force the information out of her. "Nothing happened—"

"Something must have happened!" Keiko demanded, clenching her fists, "Or you would have been agreeing with me. Spill. What happened with you and Rai earlier?"

"Nothing," Kimiko said, avoiding Keiko's gaze. "Absolutely nothing."

"You're totally lying to me," Keiko said. "You can never look anyone in the eye when you lie." Sighing, she said, "I'll leave you alone on this topic. _For now._"

-x-

"You know what I find hilarious?" Jermaine said to Clay as the two of them walked to their usual spot during lunch, a table under the giant oak tree.

"And what's that, partner?" Clay asked, looking to his friend.

"That Rai is the one with a girl while you don't have one."

Scowling at Jermaine, Clay muttered, "What's so funny about that?"

"Because you're the sweet guy that girls will die for to have, while Raimundo's the complete opposite," he snickered. "And look at where we are now. You still haven't won the heart of the girl you like, while Raimundo won the heart of a girl without even trying." Realizing the scowl on his friend's face, he said, "Chill, cowboy. I was just messing with you. Slow and steady wins the race," he joked.

"Now you're just asking for your behind to be kicked," Clay muttered.

"I said I was just kidding!" Jermaine said, laughing a bit. His face turned serious when he saw Keiko walking towards them. "What brings you here?"

Sighing, she dropped her tray down onto the table before sitting down. "I couldn't find where Kimiko was. We never established where we were supposed to meet at lunch."

"She's over there," Clay said, trying to be helpful. "Sitting in the grass with Raimundo."

"What?" Looking over her shoulder, her jaws dropped when she saw Kimiko sitting next to Raimundo, who was lying on his stomach. "Why… that little snake!"

Clay and Jermaine exchanged looks.

"Girl troubles," Clay muttered.

"You said it," Jermaine replied. Poking Keiko on the shoulder, he asked, "Why are you so fried, girl?"

Turning so she could look him in the eyes, she shrugged. "_Nothing_."

-x-

"You know, I've never hung out with you besides after school," she said softly as she plucked a flower from the grassy field. She tucked it behind his ear, causing him to chuckle.

"Guys give girls flowers to put in their hair, not the other way around," Raimundo said.

"But you look so good with flowers poking out of your hair," she protested, giggling a bit.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. If it had been another girl who had pulled this on him, he would have barked at her before crushing the flowers with the bottom of his shoes. "I think it'd look better in your hair, though."

"Is that another line for your book of bad pick up lines?"

"Sue me," he said, smirking at her. "But I make _good _pick up lines." He quickly noticed that something was off about her smile. It seemed like her smile had lost its charm. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're not grinning like an idiot. You're grinning like you're hiding a secret," he said, grinning at her. "What's wrong?"

"Keiko," she started, only to be interrupted by him.

"Keiko's always trying to stir up trouble, isn't she?" Raimundo said. "What did she do?"

"It's not what she did… It's what she said," Kimiko said, chewing on her lower lip.

"What did she say?"

"That's just it. She didn't say anything at all," Kimiko said.

He blinked. "Are you serious? Something's bothering her. Keiko's not the kind of girl who wants to keep things bottled up. She's the kind who enjoys telling the world everything, as if the world is her personal diary."

"I don't think she likes the fact that we're hanging out," Kimiko said.

"No duh," he said, plucking another flower from the ground. Poking her with the petals, he said, "She doesn't like me much. That's why we're such great friends."

"From the way she trashes you from behind your back, I doubt it," Kimiko replied.

"She says things about me? I feel like a celebrity," he said, beaming a bit. He then frowns. "To whom?"

"To me," Kimiko replied.

He scowled at her. "Shit. I knew that that girl was trouble."

"Why are you getting worked up for?" Kimiko said. She plucked another flower from the ground at that moment and as she plucked the petals off, one by one, she said, "You should know that I wouldn't believe anything she says to me."

"Really?" he frowned. He has never met a girl, besides his mother, who could see the good in him. It was hard for him to believe that she could. "Why?"

"Because I don't think you're as bad as she depicts you to be," Kimiko said. "That's why."

A smile appears on his face. "Thank you," he said. Finally looking around the campus, it dawned on him that people were watching them. "Do you know that people are staring at us?"

Looking up from the flower in her hands, she realized that people were, in fact, looking at them. "I guess. Why?"

"Well, they're all probably wondering why a girl like you is hanging out with a fool like me," Raimundo guessed. "In their eyes, we are two different people. You're the daughter of a rich, businessman who owns a gaming company, for Pete's sake. I'm from the other side of the town, to sum it up. You have a great reputation, and I—"

"Raimundo Pedrosa," she interrupted. "I don't understand why you think so lowly of yourself. Stop it. You're a great guy, Raimundo. The Raimundo I know is supposed to be confident and cocky. Where's that Raimundo?"

The look on his face faltered, changing into a sincere look. "Do you really think that I'm confident and cocky?" He had always pulled off an act, trying to fool people that he had no emotions. He always thought that people who displayed their emotions were weak, and he didn't want to appear weak in front of anybody. He couldn't help but think how he was such a hypocrite. He hated showing emotions to anyone, but here he was, showing his real emotions to her.

"Yes." A grin appears on her face as she placed the stem of the flower in her hand into his hair. Giggling a bit, she said, "You hair is starting to look like a garden."

"You're adorable, you know that?" he blurted. He mentally kicked himself. _Stop being such a pansy!_ He thought to himself.

She grinned at him. "You just don't want to tick off the dragon of fire."

"Yes, that's why I'm giving you complements. Because I'm afraid that you're going to kick my ass," he said, chuckling at the thought.

She scowled at him. "We'll see."

He raised a brow, a smirk appearing on his face. "Is that a threat?"

She couldn't help but smirk back at him. "We'll see," she repeats, grinning at him.

-x-

As Omi stared at the sky, he couldn't help but think about his last conversation with Raimundo.

"_Raimundo," Omi whispered, pulling him away from her room. He took a deep breath before saying, "We need to talk."_

"_About what?" Raimundo asked, confused. "We need to watch her—she might wake up any second. We need to find out who attacked her—"_

"_Whoever attacked her had his face covered up. And I attacked him from behind, so that means I didn't get a good shot of his face," Clay whispered. "The only person who saw his face is Kimiko," Clay said, joining their conversation. Jermaine was standing next to him, not wanting to be excluded from the conversation._

"_That's not what I wanted to talk about," Omi said. Sighing, he said, "Clay. Jermaine. I understand that you guys want to know what's going on, but right now… it's private matters."_

_Jermaine and Clay looked at each other and shrugged._

"_Alright," Jermaine said, nodding. "I'll be in Kimiko's room with Clay." The two of them walked off, leaving Raimundo in the hallway with Omi._

_Taking a deep breath, Omi finally summed up the courage to tell Raimundo everything. "Kimiko's the dragon of fire."_

_Raimundo couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Right. And I'm the unicorn of love," he mocked. Before he could say anything else, he was doused in water. "Why you little—" he froze. It dawned on him that Omi wasn't carrying a hose or a bucket of water. "How did you do that?"_

"_Raimundo. I'm the dragon of water."_

_Raimundo's jaws dropped. "Wait… so you were actually telling me the truth?"_

"_I never lie," Omi said. I do hide the truth though, he thought._

"_How do you know that Kimiko's the dragon of fire?"_

"_Trust me," Omi said. "I would never lie."_

"_Why did you tell me this?"_

_Because we need her to be on our side, Omi thought. "Because we need her to learn how to handle her powers before it gets out of control."_

"_Why me though?"_

"_Because she's closer to you than me," Omi said. "Look. That's all I know. Trust me, Raimundo. The fate of the world depends on it."_

_Raimundo rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever." He looked over his shoulder, looking into her room. "Can we check up on her, now?"_

Omi shook his head of the flashback. Looking up at the sky, he whispered to himself, "What they don't know doesn't hurt them, right? Why burden them with the prophecy? As long as Raimundo helps her, there's nothing to worry about."

-x-

"You've been quiet the entire time," Kimiko said to her friend as the two of them walked to Keiko's house.

Keiko sighed. "Why do you hate me?" she asked randomly, out of the blues.

Kimiko blinked, shocked at what her friend had just said to her. "What? I don't hate you, Keiko."

"Then why do you keep on lying to me?" Keiko demanded. "You keep on saying that there's nothing between you and Raimundo, but the two of you keep on hanging out."

"We're friends—"

"Don't give me the friends crap," Keiko snapped. "I've been warning you from the start to stay away from him, and what do you do? You don't stay away from him."

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "That's because he's nice. He's understanding and—"

"You act as if you're falling in love with him the way you keep on gushing about him," Keiko said. Seeing the shy look on Kimiko's face, her jaws dropped. "Oh my god—you're falling for him." She let out a cold, high-pitched laugh.

"Why are you so mean?" Kimiko demanded, folding her arms against her chest. "So what if I like him?"

"I can't believe you're stupid enough to fall for him," Keiko said coldly. "He doesn't care about anyone."

"I think he cares about me," Kimiko said.

"He's pretending, then," Keiko said. "What makes you think that he cares about you?"

"Because!"

"That's not a legitimate answer," Keiko replied, shaking her head.

"Well, I think he likes me," Kimiko said.

"Likes you?" Keiko couldn't help but laugh again. "Are you _that_ stupid?"

"Well, he kissed me," Kimiko said, ticked off at how rude her friend was. "People only kiss people when they like them, you know."

Keiko's jaw dropped. "He kissed you?" she whispered, shocked. She shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"I hate to disappoint you," Kimiko said, narrowing her eyes. "But he did."

"When?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well," Keiko muttered; her voice dripping with hurt, "guess what? He's playing you, Kimiko. He doesn't really care about you."

"What do you mean?" Kimiko asked; her eyes wide.

"He never cared about you at all. He just wanted to keep up his reputation, that's all," Keiko said, a smug look appearing on her face. "But that never dawned on you before, has it? You thought he was 'nice'. Well, guess what, Kimiko? He just wanted to score. You were just his next victim."

Kimiko frowned. "You're lying," she whispered. She didn't know whether or not to believe her friend. It would explain why Keiko kept on trying to keep them apart, but it didn't explain why she would tell her now. It was hard for her to believe that Raimundo was just toying with her.

"Ask Clay then," Keiko said coldly. "He was there when Raimundo announced that you were his next target."

-x-

"Clay!"

Clay opened his eyes, waking up from his afternoon nap that usually took place under the giant tree in his backyard, to realize that Kimiko was standing next to him. "What are you doing here? How did you get here, in my backyard?"

"Your mother let me in," Kimiko said, matter-of-factly. "I need to talk to you."

He nodded. After rubbing his eyes, he realized that Kimiko's eyes were red and sparkling with tears. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Kimiko said. "I think Keiko's mad at me."

"Why?" Clay asked, curious.

"Because she's never yelled at me before, until now." Kimiko's shoulders sagged.

He could tell that she was on the verge of crying again, so he put his arm around her shoulder. "So, why did you come to talk to me?"

"Because of something Keiko said," Kimiko said softly.

"What did she say?"

Kimiko looked at him. "She knows that I don't believe her, so she told me to go ask you."

"Ask me what?"

"Did Raimundo tell you that I was the next girl for him to score with?" she asked.

He hesitated. He didn't know what to tell her. He didn't want to lie to her, but he didn't also want to say anything that would get one of his best friends upset at him. "I—"

Realizing that he was uncomfortable with the question, she stood up. "That's all I needed to know."

"Kimiko, wait!" Clay exclaimed. But it was too late. She had already stormed off. Shaking his head in disbelief, he couldn't help but wonder why Keiko would tell Kimiko that about Raimundo.

"I hate drama," he muttered. "Everything will get solved in the end," he said to reassure himself. "So don't get yourself caught in the midst of it all." But he knew that his words wouldn't convince him to stay out of it.

"I'll worry more about it later, when I'm not on an empty stomach."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And that's where part 1 comes to an end. I know… "Nooos!"

Don't worry—part 2 will come out in a few days (I hope). Originally, there was supposed to be more added to this chapter… but that would make this post too long… that's why I split it into two parts.

I couldn't help but think, "Oh what a tangle web Omi and Keiko weaved." Keiko's just bringing more drama to our beloved couple, who aren't dating (yet!). They're really close right now, and she hates that. The big question is: why?

As for Omi, he just wants to make sure everyone is safe. He thinks that by keeping everything to himself, it'd make everyone safer. Little does he know, he just made things worse.

Let's not get confused, here. The party happened on Saturday. Raimundo kissed Kimiko on Sunday. Clay and Jermaine's discussion started on Monday, and every other scene on this post happens on Monday too. 3 different days in this chapter. Idk, I just wanted to point that out.

Did you notice that when he kissed her, it got really windy? Just wanted to point that out.

Oh yeah. Credits:

The title of this chapter: Calm Before The Storm is Fall Out Boy's song: **Calm Before The Storm**.

_Next chapter comes out soon! I promise you that!_

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	10. Chapter 8: Calm Before The Storm: Part 2

**Chapter 8: Calm Before The Storm: Part 2**

Omi was scratching the nape of his neck, as he tried to focus on the small text on the scrolls.

"'The dragon of earth is compassionate. Being one with nature, the dragon gets along with everything and everyone. The dragon of earth can move the earth. The hidden power of the dragon of earth is that it can be very persuasive due to the fact that he's compassionate and gets along with everyone.'"

"'The dragon of water is slippery'." Omi rolled his eyes at the pun. "'The dragon of water is shallow'." He scoffed at the second pun. "Whoever wrote this really needs a lesson in being funny. I am not slippery nor am I shallow."

He rolled his eyes as he continued to read the text. "'The dragon of water has the power to create water, as well as control water that surrounds it. Being shallow and slippery, it allows the dragon to become bigheaded. The hidden power of the dragon of water is that he can manipulate anybody, just as he can manipulate water. Everybody is mostly made up of water, which is why he can manipulate anyone. His powers are limited to the other dragons, since all four dragons balance and cancel each other out.'"

"'The dragon of wind is the strongest one of them all, yet is the weakest one as well. As it can control the wind and air around us, it is the dragon of life, which is why it's strong. It is weak because, like the wind, it can be misguided, blind, and lost. The hidden talent of the dragon of wind is that combining its powers with the dragon of fire, they can become indestructible. With that said, the dragon of wind can be dangerous. Being heavily influenced by emotions in the air around it, the dragon of wind is quite emotional. The dragon of wind has to be strong all the time, which is why the dragon hides its emotions. Easily overwhelmed with emotions, it is blind to other emotions.'"

Skipping the rest of the details about the dragon of wind, Omi started to scan the page for the introduction on the dragon of fire.

"'The dragon of fire is passionate in love, hate, passion, and anger, which is why it's the most dangerous dragon out of them all. When focused, it can create destruction and despair for anyone that clashes with them. The dragon of fire can create fire, as well as control any fire and flames that surrounds it. It works well with the dragon of wind, because air and wind is the main source of wind'," he read. "'Hidden powers that the dragon of fire has is—'" He stopped when he realized that the rest of the scroll had been ripped out.

He sighed, rolling up the scrolls. "If I don't know what else Kimiko can do, does it mean we're all safe from what she can do?"

-x-

Clay let out another exaggerated sigh, hoping that his younger sister would finally acknowledge that something was bothering him. Realizing that she was still more interested in her cell phone than him, he let out an even louder, more exaggerated sigh.

"What?" she demanded, looking up from her cell phone. Baby blue eyes met, and she let out a sigh. "What's wrong with you, big brother?" She was always one who tried to stay out of her brother's life. She never liked his friends, as he never liked hers.

"I think I just brought myself into a lot of drama," he replied, staring at his empty plate.

"Drama? I just love drama," she said, grinning at him.

"Yes, I know. You're a sucker for drama," Clay replied, rolling his eyes. "But you know me. You know how much I hate drama."

She gave him a devious grin. "So whose drama did you get yourself into?"

"I'm not even sure anymore," Clay said, sighing. "I'm going to tell you something, sis, and it might come as a big surprise. I really like Keiko."

She snorted. "Do you think I'm that stupid?"

"Pardon?"

"I know your friends. I've went with them in middle school, and elementary. Just because you go to a public school, and I'm going to a continuation school… but I do have friends that are managing by enough to go to public school."

He sighed. "So, you keep tabs on me?"

"I can't let you tarnish our family's reputation—"

Clay snorted. "As if."

"—And, I don't want you to do anything _stupid_—"

"You mean, perfectly sane," he interrupted once again, only for his sister to shoot him another dirty look. "Continue on."

"Let's just say Sam keeps a pretty good eye on you," Jessie said, slightly blushing when she had said her boyfriend's name. "You know that deep down, pass all the façade, that I do care about you. I just don't show it, most of the time. But that's because I need to keep up my reputation."

Clay sighed. "So, if you know Keiko, you must know Raimundo—"

"Know him? _Everybody _in this town knows him, Raimundo. We live in a really small town."

"Raimundo has 'feelings' for the new girl at school, Kimiko. She's that rich girl whose father owns that gaming company. The thing was, Raimundo was being Raimundo weeks earlier and told Keiko and me that he was going to score with her or something like that."

Jessie sighed. "And let me guess, Kimiko found out?"

"No, it's worse. Keiko found out. She's Kimiko's best friend." Clay chewed on his lower lip, waiting for his sister's reply.

"How is it worse?"

"Because Keiko told Kimiko everything. I'm just confused _why _she would tell her squat. Normally, Keiko wouldn't tell anything to the previous girls that Raimundo had flings with. Why tell Kimiko? Especially when it's obvious that he's falling for her."

Jessie, who was drinking orange juice at the moment, choked on her drink. "_What_?" She snorted. "Raimundo is falling for someone, for once? Oh my, how the tables have turned." She tsk-tsked before adding, "I think I've got it."

"Got what?"

"Keiko figured out," Jessie replied. "Keiko is jealous."

"What?"

"As much as I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to be rather blunt about this. No sugarcoating at all. Keiko is _obviously _crushing on Raimundo."

He chuckled. "What? No way. She hates him."

"That's what she wants everybody to believe. Every girl that Raimundo has gone out with, dated, and what not were just _flings_. Those girls meant nothing to him, am I correct?"

"Well—"

"That was a rhetorical question," she said. "Look. She senses Kimiko as a real competition, which is why the claws are out. I mean, has she tried to do anything to keep them from being together?"

"Well…" Clay said, racking his brain. "She kept on warning the both of them to stay away from each other with same reasons, or random ones."

"Aha! See! She likes him!" She soon realized how pale her brother looked. "Sorry, Clay. But if a girl is stupid enough not to like you, she doesn't deserve you."

He sighed. "I just hate that Keiko would do that to them, just because of her petty jealousy." He looked at his sister, who wore a funny look on her face. "And don't you dare try to preach me to turn on her. You know I'm not going to give up on her that easily. I just don't think that she's the kind of person who would be so deceitful."

"That's because you're dumb enough to be in love with her," Jessie said. "_Love-struck._"

"I don't want to talk to her," Clay muttered, propping his chin onto his fist. "If I start faking a stomach cramp, do you think ma will believe it and let me stay home?"

"I don't know," Jessie replied as she grabbed her backpack. "Grab some vegetable soup and stage your sickness or something just as creative. That's how I got out of cleaning the pig pen last summer."

-x-

Raimundo watched as she walked passed him, acting as if she didn't see him at all. But he knew she had to have seen him—he was standing in front of her locker waiting for her to show up. "What gives?" he muttered to himself as he started to follow her. "Kimiko!"

He watched as she stormed off, and he became even more confused. "Okay. Now I'm _really _confused."

Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he watched as she stormed into their physics class. He sighed, shaking his head. From the corner of his eyes, he realized that people were watching him. "Mind your own business!" he hissed, loud enough for everyone around him to hear him.

Keiko immediately showed up from nowhere and appeared at his side. "What's wrong?"

He sighed, looking at her. "I have no idea. Kimiko just ignored me and walked into physics when we still have ten minutes before class starts."

"That's Kimiko for you," Keiko said, shrugging. "Once she's bored with you, she acts as if you don't exist."

"What?" Raimundo said, crossing his arms.

"It's true," Keiko said, nodding. "She's probably doesn't want to hang out with you anymore. She uses people."

"She doesn't seem like the type that—"

"You haven't known her as long as I have," Keiko said. "I'm her best friend. Best friends know _everything_. If I were you, I would just forget about her. She doesn't deserve you."

He sighed. "I can't see her using people at all, Keiko."

"That's because she's gotten you wrapped around her finger," Keiko pointed out. "She has everyone wrapped around her finger. If you don't do what she wants you to do, she gets upset at you."

Raimundo's brows knitted together. "I think I'll ask her myself."

Keiko made a funny face. "Fine. Whatever. Just letting you know that I warned you."

-x-

Sitting down next to her, he was tapping his pencil to a beat in his head. He didn't want to sound rude when he asked her anything. Luckily, for him, their physics teacher had made today's assignment a lab instead of just a boring, typical day of notes.

Since he didn't want to get her even madder at him, he let her launch the catapult for their lab.

"You have to talk to me sometime," he pointed out as he watched her measure the angle for the next catapult launch. "You can't just stay quiet the rest of the lab. Our grade depends on it." He felt the heavy ball fly pass his face, nearly hitting him in the eye.

"Whoops. Sorry. Did I accidentally set it off too early?" she said bitterly. "I guess I forgot to warn you since you kept on yaking and yaking."

He glared at her. Picking up the ball that was rolling away from their lab table, he gently rolled it back to her. "You know, it seems like you meant to purposely hit me with it."

"You have your version, I have mine," she said. "Who do you think people are going to believe? _You? _Or me?"

He frowned. "Okay, I don't know what's wrong with you or why you think you can treat me like this, but you have no right—"

The ball bounced off his chest. He scowled at her. "You purposely did that."

"Again, who do you think people will believe?" she shot back as she picked up the ball.

He scowled at her. "Crazy lady," he muttered under his breath.

"I _heard _that," she shouted, loud enough for everyone in the classroom to look towards their direction.

"Well, it's not my fault you've been acting like one _all day!_" he shouted back. He grabbed his binder that was lying on the lab table and held it as a shield, knowing that she would attack him with the ball any time soon.

An office aide had just walked in at that moment, about to ask the teacher to hand him any detention slips when the teacher gave the student a dirty look.

"Shh! It's just getting good," he said, engrossed with the drama that was going on in the back of his classroom. He motioned for the aide to sit down in the chair next to him.

"It's not my fault that you've been using me!" Raimundo went on when he realized that Kimiko wasn't going to reply. "And it's certainly not _my fault _that you're bored with me and don't want to hang out with me anymore."

She kept quiet, staring blankly at the ground between them.

With his confidence building, he added, "Especially after all we've been through; I can't believe you think you're too good for me, Tohomiko."

Looking up from the ground, she glared at him. "You know what, Raimundo? _Screw _you for making that _stupid _accusation." Grabbing her backpack, she was about to storm away from him when he blocked her from her path.

"Leaving so soon?" he snapped. "You think you're too good for me to continue our fight?"

She glared at him. "I'm done with you and your stupid ways, Raimundo. I should have seen it from the start."

He stared at her, clueless for once. "Seen what—"

"The fact that you were just trying to keep up your reputation. Unlike you, I actually want to find true love," she said. "And think about it. You think that I was using you? You're such a hypocrite. Especially since you've been the one that's been using me just to keep your reputation from getting tarnished."

He stared at her, shocked.

"Tell me. How long were you going to keep up the charades?" she said. "Pretending that you care about me. Pretending that we could have been more than friends—did you really care? Or were you just trying to get close? Is that your angle on how to get girls?"

He blinked. "I—"

"Just save your breathe," she muttered. "This girl isn't going to let you toy with her emotions anymore." Shoving him aside, she stormed out the classroom, leaving everyone shocked.

-x-

Keiko walked into the girl's bathroom. Checking every stall to make sure that no one was there, she locked the door to the girl's bathroom before pulling out a device that looked similar to a walky-talky. "My mission is complete."

"Good," a voice replied. "We're very pleased that you didn't turn your back on us and try to deceive us."

"I had no choice," Keiko said, bitterly. "You've threatened to kill my family and hurt the ones that I really care about."

"Well, we'll let bygones be bygones," the voice replied. "Since you've done everything we've asked you to, we'll spare you your loved ones."

Keiko let out a sigh of relief. "Then consider our partnership terminated."

"You know, you've proved to be more valuable than our other members," the voice said. "Do you consider working for us full time?"

She was about to give a sarcastic remark when the voice cut her off.

"We promised those who are loyal to us their true heart's desire," the voice said. "And we've been keeping an eye on you, Keiko. Loved least by the one you loved most."

She felt a pang in her heart when the voice had said so.

"He only sees you as a friend—"

"You're lying—"

"He doesn't feel that way about you."

"Shut up—"

"He always knew that he could do better—"

Shutting her eyes, she sunk to the ground. "Please, stop—"

"Don't you want security? Don't you want to feel safe knowing that he'll love you forever? Pledge your loyalty to us, and we'll give you the one thing that you truly desire. His love."

-x-

Kimiko stormed out of the nurse's office, after spending a few minutes convincing the nurse to let her go home. Pulling her hood over her head, she started walking home. Upset, angry, and tired, she just wanted the day to be over. She felt regret for some things she had said to him, and she couldn't help but wish for the scenario to be different.

Because she, Kimiko Tohomiko, was in love with the one who would never love her back.

Just as she was about to turn on the corner, a car quickly zoomed in front of her, screeching to a stop, blocking her from her path.

"What the—"

"Get in, loser. We're going shopping."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Oh, ho, ho. Cliffhangers. Sorry for the late update. I was supposed to update this earlier (_way earlier)_, but my computer stopped working. I've been spending hours working on it, tinkering with it, and trying to figure out what's wrong. Now that it's getting repaired, I went back to working on this.

The last line, "Get in loser. We're going shopping," is a line from _Mean Girls_.

Who do you think stopped Kimiko from walking and told her to get in the car?

Who do you think Keiko was talking to? (PS. Keiko's not the one who was spying on Kimiko and Raimundo in chapter 7 due to the fact that the person who was spying on them was a man, and Keiko is not a man).

Continuation school (the one that I said that Jessie goes to) is like a high school, but it has no electives (arts classes, etc). It's a school for students who failed so many classes at their high school to the point where it's impossible for them to graduate in the four years that they go there that they're forced to go to a Continuation school.

This chapter originally wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger, but… I've been upset/sad lately. My favorite band came back from their hiatus but they kicked out my favorite member. I only write cliffhangers when I'm upset/sad. Heh. Sorry! I'm always easily overwhelmed by my emotions.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	11. Chapter 9: The Tables Have Turned

A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've been so tired and sleepy, it's been the Holidays (Thanksgiving), and I had writer's cramp during the week off from school. But don't worry, my ideas have came crawling back!

Also, thank you to all of those who have read, reviewed, favorite, and etc this story. It meant so much to see email alerts and what not! (:

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: The Tables Have Turned<strong>

"_Get in loser, we're going shopping."_

It took her a few seconds to register the fact that the last person on earth that she would ever talk to would tell her to get into her car to go shopping.

"We don't have all day. Either you want to get into the car and talk about things, or you can walk home." Ashley leaned back in her chair, her left hand still on wheel. She pushed up her sunglasses into her hair with her right hand.

Kimiko couldn't help but blink. Swallowing hard, she said, "S-Sorry?"

"Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Time is ticking. I have shopping to get to and I _don't _want to waste my time waiting for you."

"Don't you have school?" Kimiko asked, placing her hands on her hips. Realizing the obvious answer to her question, she sighed. "Which mall?" she asked as she opened the door to the passenger seat.

-x-

"I can't believe it," Jermaine muttered, shaking his head in disbelief after what Raimundo had told him. "You got in a fight with Kimiko? Over what, exactly?" He eyed his friend, waiting for him to explain to him everything.

"I really don't know," Raimundo replied, shrugging. He started to walk faster, making it harder for Jermaine to keep up with him. "I can't believe she tried to pin it on me—"

"Pin what?" Jermaine asked, walking even faster. "Wait, what happened?"

"One second, she was ignoring me. The next thing I knew, we were fighting. I was mad because I had a right to be mad. She's _using _me. I mean, can you believe it?" He shot his friend an exasperated look.

Jermaine snorted.

"Find something funny about what I said?" Raimundo demanded. "Because I really want to know what's so funny about what I said."

"Why on earth would Kimiko 'use' you?" Jermaine demanded, crossing his arms. "She doesn't seem like that kind of girl."

"You don't know her!" Raimundo shouted, causing everyone in the hallway to look at them. He gave them all a weak smile and turned his attention back to Jermaine.

"Well, neither do you, Rai," Jermaine pointed out. The two of them headed into their math class and took their usual seats by the door near the back of the room, far away as possible from their teacher and his desk.

"Well, I thought I knew her," Raimundo protested. "But I guess I was wrong—"

"If you did know her as well as you think you do, then tell me… is she the kind of person who would use people?" Jermaine asked. He grinned when he realized that he was silent. "Aha. I got you there."

"Shut up," Raimundo replied, rolling his eyes.

"You know I'm right," Jermaine pointed out, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Admit it—"

"I'll admit that you're right when hell freezes over," Raimundo said. Deep down, he knew that Jermaine was right. He just wasn't going to admit it.

"I'm just curious… Don't mind me asking this, but, where did you get the idea that Kimiko was using you?" Jermaine was scratching the nape of his neck, waiting for his friend to answer him.

"Keiko… why?"

"If I were you, I would never trust Keiko. She can always stretch the truth, if you know what I'm saying."

"What do you mean?"

"She lies. She's a manipulative liar. She can be quite crafty at it when she has to be."

"Wait… how do you know?" Raimundo asked, confused.

Jermaine's face went red. "Trust me. Let's just say that one time, not long ago, Keiko and I had a science project that we had to work on. And let's just say she didn't do her part and told the teacher _and_ convinced her that it was _I_ who had lost the project because I apparently 'hate' her."

"What?" Raimundo said, shocked. Shaking his head, it dawned on him. "Wait… if Keiko _lied_ to me… that means—"

"That you were an idiot to listen to Keiko?"

"No…"

"That you're an idiot to think that Kimiko would use you?"

"_No_…"

"That you're secretly gay?" Jermaine asked slyly.

"No. Screw you, man, for trying to sneak that past me. It means that I was stupid enough to listen to Keiko to believe that Kimiko would use me."

Jermaine clicked his tongue. He rolled his eyes, wearing a funny expression on his face.

"What?" Raimundo demanded, looking at his friend.

"Nothing," Jermaine said, smirking at his friend.

-x-

"So, tell me… why do you ditch school so much?" Kimiko asked, taking a sip of the orange soda drink in her hands. She watched as Ashley held a dress against her body, examining how she would look in front of a tall mirror. She couldn't believe she was going shopping with Ashley, but she was glad to find out that Ashley wasn't as bad as she had expected her to be.

Ashley looked over her shoulder and simply said, "Because school's boring? We don't learn anything in school except for the latest gossip and info on who's pregnant." She shrugged as she slowly said, "I normally don't ditch. It's just today…"

"Why only today?" Kimiko asked, curious. She looked up from the pair of shoes that she was trying on.

"Because I got into a fight with Jack," Ashley muttered, shaking her head.

"_Boys_," Kimiko muttered, shaking her head.

"You've said it, sister," Ashley said. She looked at Kimiko through the mirror and asked, "Does this dress go with my skin tone?"

Kimiko nodded. "It looks great," she said, giving Ashley a thumb's up. "So… what did the two of you fight over?"

Ashley hesitated. "You don't want to know, really. It's not that bad. Besides, it seems like you already have enough boy trouble of your own."

"It's nothing, really," Kimiko said, giving her a wry smile.

"Is that why you looked like a mess?" Ashley said, raising a brow at her. "Let me guess, it's about that Pedrosa boy."

Kimiko shrugged. "Yeah… but how did you know—"

"Everybody knows that there's something going on between Raimundo and you," Ashley said, shrugging.

"Really?" Kimiko said; her eyes wide.

"It's all that anyone can talk about today. It's not usual to see Raimundo Pedrosa being a gentleman," Ashley said.

Kimiko cracked a grin. "Is it true that he's a 'player'?"

Ashley's eyes widen. "Him? I doubt it. He can talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk."

"Meaning?"

"He thinks he's all that when he's not," Ashley said, grinning. "Is that what the two of you guys were fighting over?"

Kimiko nodded. "Kind of. We were both fighting over something stupid… really, really, stupid. I was mad that he was trying to score with me—"

Ashley snorted.

"_And_, he was mad because of something stupid that I can't remember," Kimiko muttered.

Ashley's smile immediately disappeared. "Interesting…"

"What's interesting?" Kimiko asked, confused.

"Huh?" Ashley blinked. "I was just thinking of what could match this dress. It's very _interesting._" She gave Kimiko a grin. "So, why did you fight with Raimundo? I mean, unless you had a change of heart, someone must have told you something about him."

Kimiko shrugged. "I don't know. All I remember is that I got into a lot of fights with Keiko… and then she told me about his true intentions."

"_Interesting…_"

"Let me guess, shoes?" Kimiko teased.

"Huh?" Ashley's eyes widen. "Yeah… I have a pair of shoes that would go quite well with this dress." She gave Kimiko a small smile. "Yeah... they're quite _interesting_."

-x-

Clay's baby blue eyes widen when he saw all of his friends sitting far away from each other when he showed up early in the morning. Raimundo was sitting with Jermaine under a tree, Omi was sitting at their usual spot, alone, Keiko was sitting with a few of her female friends, and Kimiko was nowhere to be seen.

He couldn't help but blink. "What happened?" he asked, looking at Omi. "Why is everyone… split up? I'm absent for one day and it feels like I've been absent for weeks."

Omi looked up. "I do not know. Keiko hasn't been talking to anyone except for her other friends. Raimundo has been kind of quiet ever since his fight with Kimiko—"

"He got into a fight with Kimiko?" Clay's eyes widen once again. "Well, I'll be. Over what?"

"I do not really care, which is why I don't know," Omi pointed out. "If you want to know anything, ask Raimundo, Kimiko, or Jermaine."

"Wait, what?" Clay's nose scrunched in confusion. "Wait, why does Jermaine know while you don't know?"

"Well, Raimundo told Jermaine everything," Omi pointed out. "You can always ask Kimiko."

Clay quickly looked around and scanned the quad, looking for Kimiko. "I don't see her anywhere." He soon realized he spoke to soon. His jaws dropped when he saw Kimiko walking pass him, talking to Ashley.

"What's wrong?" Omi asked. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened at what he saw. "Holy cow."

"I can't believe it," Clay muttered. "_What happened yesterday?"_

-x-

"Everyone's staring at us," Ashley muttered, crossing her arms. "I think this was a bad idea."

"Nonsense," Kimiko said, smiling at her. "We're friends. I don't give a damn about what anyone thinks about us hanging out. Besides, no one is staring at us."

"But everyone has been used to seeing you hang out with people that were better than me," Ashley pointed out, uncomfortable with the fact that she was receiving a lot of attention. "And they are staring at us."

"At least you've been a better friend to me than the other people I'm friends with," Kimiko pointed out. "Don't worry… You're not that bad. You just need to give people a chance. That's the only way they can give you a chance. And relax."

"That makes no sense," Ashley pointed out. "But thanks, anyway." She sighed. "But I'll be in study hall, trying to avoid everyone." She gave Kimiko a wry smile before walking away. "As always."

She couldn't help but grin as she walked away, thinking to herself as she walked. _I've never had a real friend before. Can't believe Kimiko would actually be the first person I would actually call a friend._

-x-

"We have to talk sometimes," Raimundo muttered, poking her in the arm. She scooted her stool farther away from him. "You can't ignore me forever. C'mon, Kimiko. I know you. You're better than that."

Groaning, she realized he was right. Looking up from her notebook, her sapphire orbs bore into forest green eyes. "_What_?" She narrowed her blue eyes before saying, "_What is it_?"

"We need to talk," Raimundo said, looking at her.

"We just did," she pointed out. She turned her attention back to her notebook.

He rolled his eyes and poked her once again.

"_Stop it!_" she shouted, causing everyone in the room to look at them. Glaring at him, she slowly said, "What. Do. You. Want?"

"To talk—"

"We just did—"

"Kimiko. I will grab you and carry you over my shoulder if I have to. I will drag you out of this class and do what is necessary to get you to talk to me," Raimundo said.

She scowled at him. "Instead of telling me what you want to do to get us to talk, why don't you, I don't know, just _talk_?"

He sighed. Trying to ignore the fact that some people were trying to eavesdrop on their conversation, he quietly whispered, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Kimiko asked, confused. "I didn't catch what you just said."

"I said I'm sorry!" he snapped.

She blinked. "For what?"

"For getting mad at you," he said. "Over something stupid that Keiko said."

Kimiko's eyes narrowed. "What did Keiko say that gave you the idea that I could be using you?"

"She told me that you use people until you're bored with them and then you move on. Since you were ignoring me yesterday, I thought—"

Kimiko let out a shrill laugh. "I'm sorry, Raimundo. I would never ignore people that I care about unless they hurt me really bad."

"Wait, how did I hurt you 'really bad?'" he demanded.

She hesitated. "If you really want to know, ask Keiko yourself. Because she's clearly a reliable source of information."

"She's not—_oh_. You were being sarcastic." He scratched at the nape of his neck.

"Yes. Now, leave me alone."

"But Kimiko—"

"I said, leave me alone. You should just ask her what she told me… It's better to get the information from the source itself."

He frowned. He really didn't want to ask Keiko, or talk to her. Especially since the last time he talked to her, it gotten him in so much trouble. "Will you ever forgive me?" Raimundo asked, his words coming out in mere whispers. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for her to reply.

"I don't know," she softly whispered. "I just don't know."

-x-

Keiko couldn't help but feel paranoid as she walked into the library. She felt as if someone was watching her every move, and she was pretty sure that her paranoia started just the day before.

After signing in, she made her way upstairs. Taking a table in the back of the room, she dropped her backpack in one of the chairs. Grabbing a small vial that was in her backpack, she hid it in her pockets as she walked towards one of the many bookshelves.

She knew that they were waiting for an answer. She never ever replied to them, and she knew that they were afraid she would blow their secrets. What scared her most was the fact that they knew where she lived. Especially since they were kind enough to leave a package containing the vial with her name on it.

She knew that the second she pledged her loyalty to them, the vial would immediately fill with a small dose of potion which would be strong enough to make anyone fall madly in love with her.

_As much as I want him to love me, I want it to be real._ Just as she was about to throw the vial away, she felt someone grab her.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with Ashley.

"What do you want?" Keiko demanded.

"You should have never agreed to it," Ashley hissed. "You should have just stayed away from them—"

Keiko let out a nervous laugh. Hiding the vial behind her back, she said, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me," Ashley demanded. "I've seen that vial before."

Before she knew it, she was confessing everything to her. "They were threatening my family, friends, and loved ones—"

"They were just bluffing," Ashley hissed, looking at her in disgust. "Now that they know your weakness, they'll continue blackmailing you with your family."

"They wouldn't."

"Oh, yes, they would." Ashley's eyes darken as she said, "You were stupid enough to believe that they would hurt your family."

Keiko's eyes narrowed. "I care about them. I would do anything just to protect them."

"And that's why they want you, Keiko. It's the way that you would do anything just to protect them," Ashley muttered. "They would use that to their advantage."

"How do you know so much about them?" Keiko demanded, narrowing her eyes. "You're one of them!"

"If I was one of them, I would have been trying to convince you to join, you idiot," Ashley pointed out. "I would never join them."

Keiko's eyes widen. "Why not?"

"I've seen how they treat those who pledged their loyalties to them… and I must admit… it's not worth it."

Keiko snorted. After a brief period of silence, her eyes widen in horror. "You're trying to test my loyalty. I see. Well, I won't be fooled by it." She glared at Ashley. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep Raimundo and Kimiko apart."

Ashley couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief as she watched Keiko storm off. "And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that Kimiko and Raimundo will resolve their relationship… Because I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that the dragon of fire doesn't join the Heylin side." _And because Kimiko's the first person who actually treated me like a friend._

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Oh yes, the tables have indeed turned.

Yes, Ashley is being friendly towards Kimiko. However, at first, she only wanted to be friends with Kimiko because she wanted to keep Kimiko from turning to the Heylin side. But then they hung out and got to know each other better, and she realized that she doesn't want Kimiko to be hurt. So yes, Ashley considers Kimiko to be a friend… a _real _friend.

Omi's shocked that Ashley and Kimiko are hanging out because he thinks that Ashley's going to try to convince Kimiko to join the Heylin side. He's convinced that Chase, Wuya, Jack, and Ashley are somehow connected to the Heylin side.

What did Jack and Ashley fight over about that made Ashley ditch school?

Still unanswered questions: Who is the man who spied on Kimiko and Raimundo? And who was the person that he and Keiko talked to on the walkie-talkie? Who does Keiko like?

Sorry for the lack of RaiKim… I'll try to have more Raikim in the next chapter!

Thank you for reading! _Seriously_. It means a lot to me.

**Comment/review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	12. Chapter 10: Street Lights

Thanks to all of those who have read/commented/added this story to favorite. You guys rock. Without further ado, I give you chapter 10.

Sadly, I don't own Xiaolin Showdown.

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Street Lights<strong>

Two weeks had passed since any of them really talked to each other. Omi was always studying, and Clay was pretty sure that what Omi was reading wasn't something that they were assigned in their English class. He couldn't understand why he was the only one who seemed truly upset that their group of friends had fallen apart.

Ever since he had missed a day at school, he had been so behind on all the drama. It seems like even his sister knew more than he did, and she didn't even go to his school.

"Omi, are you sure you don't know anything?" Clay questioned as he tried to keep a song he had heard on the radio out of his head. He did _not _want to have that catchy, yet redundant, Gym Class Heroes' Stereo Hearts stuck in his head. Especially since he had a history test coming up.

Omi shook his head. "I swear. It's not any of my business—"

Clay couldn't help but chuckle. "Little buddy, you always love being part of everyone's business. What's up?"

"Not much," Omi replied, tilting his head back. "Just a few clouds, a few trees, a few birds—"

"Oh Jesus," Clay whispered, shaking his head in disbelief."I'll go ask the gossip queen, herself. Keiko always knows what's going on."

-x-

"What do you mean you don't know?" Clay demanded, nearly dropping his hat in shock. "You don't know anything?"

"I don't care," Keiko simply replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "She's made new friends, and you know that I'm on an I-hate-Raimundo phase. So I don't give a rat's ass when it comes to them."

"You're lying," Clay said, one of his eyebrows rising while the other one furrowed. "She's your best friend—"

"_Was_," Keiko corrected, pushing her hair behind her shoulder. "I don't understand why you can't grasp the fact that I've moved on."

"This isn't the Keiko I know," Clay said, crossing his arms. "The Keiko I know _cares_ about everything that goes on in everyone's lives, but that's because she cares about everyone."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. She leaned back against the brick wall, trying to feign a "I-don't-give-a-shit" look. "I hate to disappoint you, Clay, but—"

"Trust me. You wouldn't disappoint me," Clay said softly.

"What?" she said, frowning. "Did you say something?" Shaking her head, she continued on. "I'll disappoint everyone. I already have disappointed myself."

"What do you mean by that?" His baby blue eyes widen at the sparks of new interest that he was feeling.

"Trust me. I've just dug myself a bottomless grave… and I'm about to take everyone down with me," she said. She glanced at him, looking at him from under her dark lashes. "It's best to stay away from me."

"What do you mean—"

"Consider our friendship over," she simply said. "Might as well end our friendship now before you give up on me, like everyone else has."

He blinked, hurt by the fact that she wanted to. "Friends don't give up on friends!" he protested. "I won't give up on you—What's wrong? You always tell me when something's wrong."

She looked away. "Everything's wrong. Simple as that."

"No! Big _no_. It is _not _simple as that. Please tell me what's going on," he pleaded, reaching out to put his hands on her shoulder.

She looked at him, her dark eyes boring into his baby blues. "_This_." She swung her backpack over her shoulder and handed him a small, silver box. After seeing the shocked and clueless expression on his face, she hung her head in shame and walked off.

He ran his hand through his golden locks, trying to figure out why she would give him a gift. Especially since she had just basically told him that their friendship was over. Pulling off the lid, his heart dropped the second he saw what was inside the small, silver box.

-x-

Hiding behind the corner, she watched as he stormed away from the hallway, looking for her, of course.

She kept quiet as a tear rolled down her cheek as she let it dawned on her that he finally looked to see what was inside the box she had given him. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly, trying to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay. "I've already lost Kimiko as a best friend, Raimundo hates me, and Jermaine won't even speak to me. I can't lose you too. I'm just trying to keep everyone I care about safe."

-x-

"What do girls like?" Raimundo questioned, lazily looking up at the clouds. It was one of the many favorite pastimes of his, and he would always prefer cloud-gazing over homework.

His sister scoffed, glancing over to look at him from her coloring book. "You're asking me?"

"Yes. You. You, Zoe Pedrosa, you. I mean, you're a girl, right?" He peeked over at his sister from the corner of is eyes to see a baffled look on his sister's face.

"Girls don't like you, obviously," she quipped, placing her crayons down on the table. She rested her chin on her palm, propping her elbow onto the patio table. "Why'd you ask?"

"Since you asked," he said, looking away from his sister. Gazing up at the clouds, he cleared his throat. "You know how the founder's ball is coming up?"

She nodded, her nose scrunched up as she grimaced at him. "You mean the one that Keiko and mom forced you and me and Edwin and—"

"And everyone we know. I get it," he said, cutting her off. "You remember how… _extravagant_ everything was last year, right?"

"Who knew that the Spicers could pull off something so fancy?" Zoe said, nibbling on a slice of apple.

"Anyway," Raimundo said, "I really want to know what girls like."

"'Girls don't like boys,'" his little sister began to sing. "'Girls like cars and money.'" Realizing that her brother wore a wearied look on his face, she giggled. "Sorry. You asked for it. Who's the lucky girl? Kimiko?"

"No!" he shouted, his face turning a bright shade of red. "It's not."

"Keiko?"

He blinked. "Um, no. Why would you consider that?"

His sister shrugged. "Statistics shows that when a girl and a guy hang out, one of them is bound to fall for the other. You and Keiko hung out a lot."

He shot his sister a dirty look. "I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that. You know that it just wasn't me that she hung around a lot. Don't forget about Omi—or Clay."

She shrugged. "If you want," she said, changing the subject after realizing how sour her brother gotten the second she mentioned Keiko, "I can go ask Kimiko what she likes. If you admit to me why you want to know what she likes to me."

He sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"Who knows," Zoe said, shrugging at him. "How should I know?" she said. "If you don't even tell me, then how would we know, you know?"

He blinked. "I think I heard the word 'know' a little too much," he said, rubbing his temples. "She's just mad at me, and I really want her to forgive me."

His sister smiled, leaning towards him. She nudged his shoulder with her big toe. "It's nice to see you trying to say that you're sorry for once. I think I have one thing up my sleeve that you can try..."

"Thanks, sis," he said, grinning at her. "You're amazing. I'm lucky to have a sister like you."

"What are little sisters for?" she replied, a devilish grin appearing on her face.

-x-

"Jack. We need to speak to you."

A red-headed boy looks up from his giant textbook to find himself staring at the last person he wanted in his room. "What are you doing here in my room?" he demanded, pulling one of the earphones out of his ear. The other one remained, blasting music into his other ear. "_We_?"

The next thing he knew, the scenery around him changed into a darker, grimmer setting. He gulped, dropping his textbook. "I told you guys to stop that!"

"Honey, magic is a part of me," Wuya whispered, leaning in close to him. "So, where's the ex?"

"Who's we?" he demanded, stubbornly refusing to let her change the subject. His cinnamon-colored eyes widen as he said, "Ex? Ashley's not my ex." He bit onto his tongue, cursing himself for letting her change the subject.

"She might as well be," Wuya said, shrugging. She placed her hand onto his shoulder, her long nails digging into his skin, causing him to cringe in pain and discomfort. "She's my ex-best friend. She's hanging out with that _Kimiko_. And you know that she knows about _us_."

"Now, now, Wu. You know that guerilla tactics won't convince him to do anything." Chase Young appears from the shadows, slowly making his way towards the two of them. He sighed, knowing that he would have to swoop in and save the day once again. _Jack Spicer idolizes me_, he thought to himself as he carefully plotted out what to say so that Jack wouldn't barge out of his mansion.

"I don't know about the two of you, but some of us don't have magic to help pass high school," Jack snapped, crossing his arms.

Chase scowled, realizing that his number one fan wasn't a fan of his anymore. _Spicer's been quite moody lately, since his fight with that stupid Ashley._

"Who cares?" Wuya said, sitting down on Jack's bed that she had teleported to the Young mansion when she had teleported Jack along with her. Throwing an arm around his shoulder, she simply said, "Your family's freaking rich. You don't need a future. You already have your parent's fortune—"

"So?" Jack said, glaring at her. Pulling away from her grip, he said, "You know that my parents and Ashley don't like each other."

"True, but that doesn't explain why you're studying. You're supposed to be a genius," Chase said.

"I _am!_"

"Then why study?" Wuya said. "We should be out partying."

"I can't party knowing that—" He stopped, covering his mouth.

"Knowing what?" Chase demanded, glaring at him. "What happened between you and Ashley at the last fight?"

"Nothing," Jack said, crossing his arms. "Now if you _excuse_ me, I have the PSATs that I need to study for."

Just as he was about to grab the textbook, he felt a pair of hands grab him by the shoulder. The next thing he knew, he was shoved against the wall.

"If you know that _something _is going on, you better tell us," Chase snapped.

"Got it," Jack replied weakly. "_Loud and clear_." The second Chase release him from his grip, he brushed his shoulders with his hands. "Forgot how freakishly strong you are…"

"You better get that stupid girlfriend of yours to help us out," Wuya demanded, placing her hands on her hip. "Or else something bad will happen." She grinned with satisfaction as she watched the little ounce of color on Jack's face drain, washing away as his face pales.

-x-

"You know, I have never seen a girl wolf down a chili dog as quickly as you have," Kimiko said, pursing her lip.

Ashley grinned, revealing a set of pearly whites. "Yeah, well, you've seen how I've shopped. I'm quite aggressive when it comes to things."

"Is this about Jack?" Kimiko asked, raising a brow. "I mean, some people shop a lot more or eat a lot more when they're upset. Is that why you've been shopping so much lately? And eating lots of junk food?"

"I'm eating a lot because I'm craving food. I love food," Ashley said, shrugging. "As for the shopping, you know that the founder's ball's coming up, right?"

"Oh," Kimiko said, nodding. "Why didn't you go shopping with Wuya?"

Ashley scowled. "She's not a friend of mine at all. Honestly, she's clingy, desperate, and kind of shallow. The only thing that she cares about is her, herself."

"What about Chase?" Kimiko asked.

"It's kind of a shallow relationship, really. They're pretty much using each other for their own personal reasons. Wuya keeps all the ladies away, and Chase knows how to make Wuya do anything he wants." Realizing that Kimiko wore a funny look on her face, she shook her head. "Not like that. He just knows what to say that would convince Wu to do anything."

"That's kind of creepy," Kimiko said, placing her sandwich down on the paper plate in front of her. "Is Jack like that to you?"

"No. He might look goth, but he's sweet. He has good qualities about him," Ashley said, taking a sip of soda. "And he's always trying to please everybody, because of his big heart."

Kimiko grinned. "You always get so mushy-gushy when it comes to Jack."

"Same to you when it comes to Raimundo," Ashley shot back, grinning when she saw her friend's cheek turn pink.

"I do not get 'mushy' when it comes to Raimundo. I get annoyed," Kimiko said, blowing a strand of her out of her face.

"Annoyed. _Flustered." _Ashley gave her a toothy grin. "C'mon, Kim. Give peace a chance. Hear him out, for starters. It's been two weeks. That boy must be going through a lot of torture."

She sighed, crossing her arms. "I guess I should give him a chance, shouldn't I?" she asked, biting on her lower lip. She looked at her friend through her dark, heavy lashes. _If I give Raimundo a chance, I won't feel so guilty anymore._

"Two weeks, girl. That's all I'm going to say," Ashley said, putting her two hands up in the air, backing away from the subject. She jutted her head towards the bag of chips next to Kimiko's plate. "You goin' to eat that?"

-x-

_**Field Journal: Omi's Studies/Take On The Dragons.  
><strong>_

_Date: December 15__th__._

_Location: some food court at local mall._

_Cover: I'm looking for some ointment for Master Fung's nasty foot fungus._

_Observations: _

_6:06 p.m.: Fire of Dragon, aka subject Kimiko, is seen hanging out with Spicer's girlfriend, Ashley. The two of them are eating sandwiches, bags of chips, and lots (and lots and lots) of chili dogs. Nothing new is happening here._

_6:15 p.m.: The two girls leave. I'm about to follow them when Jermaine spots me. Blast._

_6:16 p.m.: Lost the two girls while talking to Jermaine and trying to convince him that I'm not trying to spy on Kimiko. Note: must get sunglasses and a wig, or some type of fantastic disguise._

* * *

><p><em><span>Date<span>: December 15__th__._

_Location: across the street from the Bailey residency._

_Cover: I'm searching for money I dropped earlier._

_Observations: _

_7:10 p.m.: Subject Clay Bailey looks upset. Is whittling and breaking everything that he makes. He must be very bummed. He spots me from across the street. _

_7:12 p.m.: Jessie Bailey shrieks at him to get his "sissy-ass" back inside the house before he makes her "look bad."_

* * *

><p><em><span>Date<span>: December 15__th__._

_Location: inside the Pedrosa residency._

_Cover: Mrs. Pedrosa makes the best cheesecake ever for dessert ever (no lie)._

_Observations: _

_7:35 p.m.: Raimundo is awfully quiet today. Normally, he'd be bragging about something that relates to his soccer match. Zoe's quiet too. They have eye contact, the two looks giddy, and they break contact. __Something is going on._

_7:36 p.m.: Raimundo keeps on looking at the clock behind his father's head._

_7:37 p.m.: He continues to glance at the clock every five seconds. Fool. As if looking at the clock every few seconds will make it go faster. If that actually happens in real life, school would be over in a blur._

* * *

><p><em>What did I learn from these observations?<em>

_Something's going on with the dragon of wind and the dragon of earth. I must learn what's going on. I need to stay two steps ahead of everyone else.  
><em>

-x-

Raimundo sighed, tapping his fingers impatiently on the table, feeling spiteful and ticked off. He kept on glancing over at the clock, impatient with the fact that Omi was the reason why his plan kept on getting more and more delayed.

His sister Zoe kept on rolling her eyes every time Omi gave their mother a compliment on her cooking, which would usually cause their mother to go on and on about how she's grateful that at least one person appreciates her cooking.

"Is there something that's bothering you?" their father asked, glancing at his son. "You keep on looking at the clock."

"Hmm? Nothing," Raimundo said. "I'm just not hungry."

"Nonsense," his mother replied, rolling her eyes. "It's your favorite, honey."

"I'm _not _hungry," Raimundo replied, pushing his plate away from him with his index finger.

He looked at his parents from the corner of his eyes to see his parents exchanging looks. And he can tell right away what they were both thinking; "Uh oh. We have a rebellious teenager on our hands."

"So," Omi said nervously, trying to cut the tension in the air. "Anyone had seen a good movie lately?"

-x-

"I think we're lost," Kimiko muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I think we figured that out after passing that tree two times ago," Ashley replied, frustrated. She glanced at Kimiko. "Any signal on your phones?"

"My PDA is dead, so we have no GPA. My iPhone is at home, because I forgot about it in a rush to school," Kimiko said, sighing. "All I have left is this dumb phone that never works ninety-nine percent of the time." Her heart skipped a few beats when she felt the car nearly slide across the road.

"Whoa," Ashley said, feeling a lump in her throat. "Did you feel—"

"Uh-huh," Kimiko replied, cutting her off. The two girls exchanged glances, both with panic in their eyes.

"Okay. I think I'm going to turn around and back trace to the mall. There's a Best Buys behind the mall. We can use one of the tablets or computers and use Google Maps or something to find a route home," Ashley suggested. Slowly and carefully, she turned the car around, driving back to the mall that they had came from.

-x-

"I can't believe he spent twenty minutes on one _tiny _piece of cheesecake," Zoe whines as she got into the passenger seat. "And did you see the way he was kissing up to mom?"

"What I can't believe is that Omi shows up randomly out of the blues," Raimundo muttered, shaking his head. He glanced at his sister. "Are you sure that that's a good idea?"

"Totally," Zoe said. "I've seen it happened millions of time on movies. There's always a three percent chance of the guy actually convincing the girl to be with him. And then there's a ninety seven percent chance that everything will blow up in his face."

He grimaced. "Gee. Thanks."

-x-

"Okay. We're officially lost now," Kimiko declared, glancing up from her cell phone. "He hasn't answered his phone at all. What do I do, now?"

"You leave him a voice message," Ashley said, rolling her eyes. And then she felt her chest beginning to hurt. "I don't feel so good," she whispered, her grip on the steering wheel tightening.

"Wait, what?" Kimiko said, right when she heard Raimundo's voice telling her to leave a message after the beep. She sighed as she closed her phone, tossing it next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I don't feel so good," Ashley repeated, using the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away a bead of sweat. "I feel like I'm going to throw up… Like I just got off a very dizzy roller coaster ride."

"Five chili dogs can do that to people," Kimiko said, looking at her friend nervously. "No, but seriously, are you okay?"

"It's nothing," Ashley said, trying to reassure the two of them. "Just a couple of chili dogs, chips, and a sip of soda making a bad reaction in my stomach."

"If you say so," Kimiko said. She pulled out her phone and decided to call Raimundo once again. "Raimundo. It's Kimiko."

-x-

"Is it me, or does fate not want you to say to her to tell her that you're sorry?" Zoe asked, trying to conceal the fact that she finds it ridiculously funny that every time that her brother drove past one street; a red-light forced him to stop at the next street. "It's been, like what, eight of them so far? And let's not forget about the train that decides to go by after it's been years since the railroad tracks have seen a train."

He scowled at her. Just as he was about to say something, he heard his car sputter. And that was when he smacked his forehead. "I forgot to fill up the car with gas this morning."

"Well, don't just sit there like a chump!" Zoe demanded. "Go out of the car and _push_ it. Push! Push!"

Raimundo glared at her. "I'm not a woman in labor." He sighed, realizing that he had to push a car to the closest gas station, since they were in the middle of the intersection. The second he unbuckled his seatbelt, his face went red with humiliation and defeat.

"That's right. Go _push_ the car," Zoe said, grinning at her brother. She grabbed his cell phone and waved it in his face. "I'm going to play games, kay?"

"Just don't kill the battery," he said as he got out of the car.

"Someone's calling you," she shouted, as he went towards the back of the car.

"Let it go to voicemail!" he shouted in reply. He sighed as he glanced at his car. He was finally thankful that his parents didn't get the SUV that they kept on threatening to give him, instead of the car he had wanted at the time. "I'll talk to whoever it is later."

-x-

"He's not picking up," Kimiko sighed, waiting to hear the beep. She was starting to get annoyed with the fact that Raimundo took forever just to let it go to the beep.

She glanced over towards Ashley to see her extremely pale now. "Ashley… What's wrong?"

Ashley shrugged, giving her friend a meek smile. She could feel her breaths shortening, her head feeling more lightheaded by the second, and her chest hurting more than it was a few minutes ago.

Kimiko's eyes averted towards the road ahead of them as she heard the beep. "Raimundo. It's me, Kimiko. I wish you would pick up. To answer your question that you asked me a while ago…" At that moment, she glanced up and the phone dropped out of her hands. "Ashley, watch out for that tree!"

-x-

"Raimundo, pick up the pace!" Zoe snapped, feeling uneasy with the fact that it got extremely dark in a short period of time. "You have a voicemail to get back to."

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Like I said before, I'll call whoever it is later."

"It's Kimiko—"

"What?" he could feel his heart leaping with joy. "Wait… why did she call me?"

"I don't know!" His sister shouted in reply. "You said to let it go to voicemail."

He ran away from the back of the car, running to the side of the car. Climbing into the car, he extended his hands as he waited for his sister to give him back his phone. "Give me the phone, sis."

"Raimundo. Wouldn't it be better if we get ourselves away from the intersection first?" she asked, nervously. "I mean, it's really dark and I'd hate for some creep to attack us because we're _stranded_."

He rolled his eyes once again. "Zoe, the phone."

Just as she was about to hand it over to him, her green eyes squinted as she tried to make out what was coming from the street parallel to the street they were on. "What the—" Her eyes widen with realization with what she was seeing. "Raimundo," she shrieked, "there's a truck heading our way."

"Wait, what?" Looking over his shoulder, his eyes widen as he found himself staring at a truck that seemed to be driving faster and faster by the second.

-x-

In a blur, shattered glass was everywhere. Million of pieces of glass were littered among the street, shining in the light from the streetlights that were illuminating above the car. Two bodies pierced with glass that was shattered from the windows on impact, badly bleeding and bruising.

"911… there's been an accident…" were the last few words one of the two of them whispered before passing out, joining the other unconscious passenger.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Oh snaps. It's been so long since I've updated. I'm so sorry for the long update. I got writer's block… There's so much drama going on.

I really enjoyed writing Omi's journal. I don't know why. I just had to include it, for some odd, unexplainable reason.

Since I don't want to spoil anything about the last few scenes, let's talk about Jack, Keiko, and Clay.

What's in the small, silver box that Keiko gave Clay? Why did Keiko want to end her friendship with Clay? And what did Jack and Ashley fight about?

Sorry for the cliffhangers. Writers block can also lead me into writing a cliffhanger. I spent like six hours coming up with this chapter, because I know that I have to update this one.

Oh yeah, before I forget. When Raimundo asked his sister what girls like, and she said, "_Girls don't like boys. Girls like cars and money_,_" _she was quoting Good Charlotte's song, "Girls & Boys" or is it "Girls Don't Like Boys"? It's one or the latter. Sorry, not a huge GC fan.

**Thank you for reading. Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated!**


	13. Chapter 11: Millions of Pieces

**Chapter 11: Millions of Pieces**

Sirens everywhere, patrol cars, ambulances, and fire trucks accompanied with flashing red and blue light as they responded to two calls that had received earlier.

One of the sheriffs made his way over to the young teenager who sat on the hood of his car, watching as they pulled out one of the two passengers out of the wrecked car.

"What's your name, son?"

"Jermaine," the teenager replied, his eyes bloodshot as he clutched onto the cell phone in his hands. He shivered in the cold, and gave the sheriff a grateful smile when the sheriff draped a fleece blanket over his shoulder. "One of them is my friend."

The sheriff blinked. "Maybe you can help us identify who they are? That way, we can alert the parents that their children are in the hospital."

Jermaine nodded, remaining silent.

"News travels fast in this town, son," the sheriff said, sitting down onto the hood next to him. "Every parent out there must have heard about two teenagers getting into a car crash. They're all worrying themselves silly if it's their child or not. Your momma must be very worried if it could have been you."

Jermaine sat there, quiet for a few seconds. He watched as one of the few firemen there tear the roof of the car. "If it wasn't for me coming home, would you guys have been notified by this accident and came to the rescue on time?"

"There's been two car accidents," the sheriff replied cautiously. "It caused a lot of panic down at the station. Normally, on a usual night that should have been tonight, the worst would be a possum being ran over. Two car crashes can bring the whole town into paranoia and panic."

"Two?" his eyes widen as the sheriff's words hit him.

"There's another crash just a block away," the sheriff quietly whispered. "But we need your help, son. Can you come with us to the hospital?"

Jermaine nodded. "Are they hurt?"

"We don't know," the sheriff replies. "I can't promise you anything, son."

Jermaine sighed. "I can't drive after seeing the car… you know. Mind taking me down to the hospital?"

-x-

"This can't be happening," Raimundo muttered, watching smokes rise from the wreck that used to be his car. He silently thanked God for giving him enough time to grab his younger sister and pull them both out of his car.

Zoe's eyes, still widened, whispered, "Well, that just killed my chance of ever wanting to get a car in the future."

He was pissed off that the man who had just crashed into his car, drove off before he could even ask the man for his insurance number. He was thankful that his sister was smart enough to take a picture of his license with her digital camera.

What he didn't understand was _why _the cops were taking so long to show up.

He suddenly regretted tossing all of his change that were in his pant pockets earlier that afternoon into his piggy bank, since he had just used what was left of his change on the payphone to call the cops in the first place.

His sister immediately shouted, "Look!"

He looked up to see the ambulance quickly sped by them, allowing them to be blinded by the flashing lights.

"What's going on?" he demanded, crossing his arms.

Before he could say anything else, he saw a cop car pull up to them.

"Are you the call that was made at eight o' five?" the officer asked, after slowly getting out of his car. His eyes widen, his jaws dropped, and the notepad in his hands dropped to the ground after he saw Raimundo's car. "_What happened_?"

"Some bastard crashed into my car and drove off," Raimundo hissed, glaring at the officer. "And then the cops took freaking _forever _to respond to my call. That's _what happened_."

"Raimundo," Zoe whispered, nervous that her brother might do something stupid he would later regret. "His car broke down, some idiot ran the red light, hit our car, and drove off. His driving was a disaster. He kept on swerving back and forth. I guess it could be driving under the influence."

"Do you have insurance for your car?" the sheriff asked, slowly bending over to pick up his notepad.

"Yes," Raimundo said, trying to keep himself from hissing at the officer.

"Don't worry about the man who crashed into your car. We're lucky that the mayor had decided to install cameras at every intersection." He glanced at the two Pedrosas. "Besides, there's a blockade on every main street. He won't get that far." The officer quickly gestured to his patrol car. "I suggest we get you kids checked out at the hospital," the officer said. "And you two can contact your parents the second we get there."

"Mom's going to have a cow when she finds out that we're there," Zoe mutters as she climbed into the back of the car.

-x-

"Zoe Hayden Pedrosa!" their mother cried hysterically, running towards her two youngest children. "Raimundo Joseph Pedrosa!" She pulled them both into a tight hug, slight suffocating the both of them.

"Mom. Can't. Breath," Zoe protested. She let out a sigh of relief the second their mother released them from her grip.

"What happened?" Edwin demanded, staring at his younger brother. "We've been calling your cell phone nonstop ever since we heard that there was something wrong."

"Some idiot crashed into our car and drove off," Raimundo muttered. "And I barely had gotten Zoe out of the car when it happened."

"That explains why you didn't pick up," Edwin replied, sarcasm heavily intended.

"Where's dad?" Zoe questioned, looking up from her bandaged knee. She wanted to keep her mind and thoughts far away from the accident as possible.

"Dad's helping Jermaine's mom find her son," Edwin said, watching his mother examine over the scratches on her daughter's body.

"Wait, why is Jermaine here?" Raimundo questioned, shocked. "Did something happen to him—?"

"I don't know—"

Raimundo glared at his older brother in frustration. "Please don't tell me it was him that was in the crash," he said, standing up. "Because-"

"First, we need to check you two out of the hospital first," their mother reminded him, cutting him off. "Then we'll go find your father and Jermaine's mother."

-x-

"Dude, you're alright!" Raimundo shouted in relief, grinning at the sight of his friend. "I thought it was you that was in the crash… and I nearly panicked." His smile faltered the second he realized that Jermaine wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?" he asked, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

"You do not want to know what I saw," Jermaine muttered, shivering slightly. He pulled the blanket around him to cover any exposed skin, wishing that he had brought a coat or a jacket.

"What did you see?" Zoe asked as she watched Jermaine's mother talking to one of the officers that was standing down the hall. Even their mother was standing with them.

"I don't want to tell you, Rai," Jermaine said, after a moment of brief silence passed. "Because if you panicked when you thought it was me that was in the accident, you might have a heart attack if you find out who was really in the crash."

Raimundo's eyes immediately widened in horror as it dawned on him who Jermaine was trying to impy. _I'm begging you, God, please don't let it be—_

"It's Kimiko," Jermaine whispered. "And Ashley," he added.

"What?" His heart was pounding wildly, and he couldn't help but feel as if everything around him was spinning out of control. And that was when he felt as if his world had just shattered into millions of pieces. "_No._"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I decided to update just so some of the "confusion" would be cleared up. A lot of you guys thought that both Raimundo and Kimiko gotten into a car accident, and that weren't true. But the last scene from the previous chapter was about only one of the car crash.

Anyways, this chapter was made to be short on purpose. Because this one transitions to the next one chapter that will come out after this one. And I'm really in a Winter-break mode already, even though my winter break starts on Christmas Eve. DX

Still a lot of questions unanswered. Still a lot of new questions that still haven't been asked yet. ;D

Also, the holidays are coming up! So, I hope you guys have a great break with your family and friends!

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	14. Chapter 12: Changes

_Xcandydots _is no more. I've changed my pen name to _xAsClicheAsItCanBe_. I've been thinking of changing it for months, and I decided to do it now.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Changes<strong>

Waking up, Kimiko found herself staring at the blinding lights that shined brightly above her. Groaning, she pulled the covers over her head, trying to shield herself from the bright lights. It took her a few seconds for it to register that the blinding lights was something she wasn't used to waking up to.

Startled, she sat up in her bed right away, the blankets in a tangled mess around her body. Looking around, she saw hundreds of balloons, teddy bears, and a certain Raimundo Pedrosa asleep in the giant, comfortable lounge chair that was beside her bed. A smile crept upon her face at the sight of him in her room, wherever she was.

"Raimundo?" she whispered, leaning over slightly so she could shake his knee.

Feeling a jolt of heat, Raimundo Pedrosa's eyes immediately opened. His forest green eyes locked with her sapphire blue. For a few seconds, their eyes remained locked on one another. The next thing he knew, he pulled her off her bed, hugging onto her tightly.

"Where am I?" she whispered into his chest. She was glad to find herself safe; especially after all those nightmares that she had.

"Hospital," Raimundo whispered back into the crown of her head. He pulled away from her slightly, so that he could look at her eyes. Her sapphire eyes were the only thing that was keeping him sane at the moment. After spending five days visiting her, checking up on her, and trying to see if she would wake, he became afraid that she wouldn't make it. Seeing her eyes, after seeing her in an unconscious state for five days, made him feel safe. It made him feel okay. It reassured him that she was there.

"Why?" she whispered. All she could remember was the sounds of screeching and glass shattering. She couldn't remember anything else—except for Ashley. She was confused, and becoming more afraid.

"You were in a horrible car crash," Raimundo whispered softly.

"But I don't drive," Kimiko whispered. "I haven't driven before."

"You weren't the driver," Raimundo answered. He looked at the door to her room, wondering if he should go and alert one of the nurses to tell them that Kimiko has woken up.

"Who drove?" Kimiko asked.

He hesitated. He didn't want to freak her out, or cause any problems that would make her heart rate go up. Looking at the machine besides her bed, her heart rate was at a normal pace. "You have to promise that you won't freak out."

The machine started beating faster.

"Kimiko!" Raimundo groaned, frowning at her. Trying to look as serious as possible, he wagged his index finger in front of her face. "Take a deep breath, and calm yourself."

"_Rai_, you're freaking me out," Kimiko whispered.

He sighed. Looking down at her, he realized how her eyes had widen, giving off an innocent look about her. He ruffled her hair. "Do you remember anything from that night?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Her nose scrunched up, and her eyebrows knitted together as she began to nibble on her lower lip. "I can't," she whispered, pulling away from him. "I can't. I can't. I can't." Her eyes were sparkling with tears.

"Shh," he whispered, trying to calm her down. He put his arms around her shoulders, letting her rest against his body. "It's okay, Kimiko."

"I can't," she whispered softly, sobbing.

"I know," he said, his mind racing as he tried to think of something that he could say to keep her mind off of everything. "I never heard what you left on my voicemail." Silence. Even the machine in the corner of the room seemed to have fallen silent as well.

"You once asked me if I was ever going to forgive you," she finally whispered. "I think I was going to tell you my answer on the voicemail… "

His heart began to race. "You forgive me?"

"Yes," she softly said. "Because I've been feeling really guilty for holding a grudge against you, Rai. And because I don't really believe that you were just trying to toy with me."

His heart filled with glee. The next thing he knew, he was up on his feet, spinning her in the air.

"Rai, I'm getting dizzy!" she protested, giggling.

Setting her on her feet, he held onto her hand. He wasn't sure how long he was going to do so, but he knew that he wasn't going to be the first one that lets go. "Sorry," he whispered, feeling the heat appearing on his cheeks.

"But you have to promise to not keep anything else a secret from me," she finally said, a serious look appearing on her face.

"I promise," he said, nodding at her.

"Tell me," she finally said. "Who was in the car crash with me? I have to go and see if the person's alright."

-x-

Hand in hand, he led her down the halls. "I think she's five rooms away from yours," he softly said. "You sure you want to do this—"

"Yes," she cut him off. "I'm sure." She slowly pulled her hand away from his tight grip. "I'll just be in for a few minutes."

"I'll be out here, waiting for you," he said, nodding at her. He quickly looked around, and was relieved to find a chair beside him.

Entering the room, a smile appeared on her face the second she saw that Ashley was awake. "You're awake!"

"Are you okay?" Ashley demanded, looking up at her friend. "They wouldn't tell me anything about your condition; because they were afraid the stress would hurt me."

"Just a few bruises here and there," Kimiko softly said.

"You're crying," Ashley whispered, slightly confused at the sight of the girl in front of her, sobbing as if there was no tomorrow. "Why?"

"Because I was worried about you," Kimiko finally whispered. "When Raimundo told me that it was you in the car with me, I was scared for you. Really, really scared for you."

Looking up at her, Ashley couldn't help but feel confused. No one has ever cared for her as much as she has. _So this is what a friend is, _she thought to herself bitterly. "I was worried about you, too." Her left brow shot up when it hit her. "Wait, Raimundo? What happened?"

"I think we're friends again," Kimiko softly said. "I think he never wants to let go of my hand—"

"Aww," Ashley whispered, not sure whether or not she was trying to be sarcastic or not; her hand on her chest. "He's so in love with you. The poor boy must have been going mad for the last few days. I know I was."

Her cheeks immediately reddened. Before Kimiko could answer her, a doctor walked into the room.

"Ashley," the doctor said, scratching her chin slightly. "I have your results." She glanced over at Kimiko. "I'm sorry, but this is private matter between my patient and me. Do you mind giving me a few minutes alone with her?"

-x-

She watched her walk out of the room. After the door finally shuts, she slowly glanced up at her doctor. "What is it?" she hissed, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid you were right," the doctor finally said. Seeing the blank look appearing in her patient's eyes, she decided to go for a different tactic. "You were dehydrated, so that explains the pain in your chest and why you fainted—"

"I know I was right," Ashley snapped, cutting her doctor off. "Aren't doctors supposed to be _useful_ when it comes to information?'

"Do you have anyone you would like to call?" the doctor asked, shocked at her patient's outburst. Trying to reason with her, she softly asked, "Your parents—"

"They're on a cruise in Mexico," Ashley interrupted. "Cruises are more important to them then their daughter."

"Grandparents—"

"Both sides? Dead."

"Friends—"

"In the hospital with me."

The doctor let out a sigh. Right away, she knew that her patient was going to be a tough one. "Boyfriend?"

She blinked. Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the doctor. "And give him a heart attack? He's going through a lot already."

"And you're not?" the doctor said, raising a brow. A satisfied smile appeared on her face, realizing that she was finally getting somewhere with her patient.

She shot her doctor another look; causing the smirk on her doctor's face to vanish, replaced with a small, firm line. Calmly, she thought of what she should say to defend him. "Not as much as he is," Ashley finally said, realizing that there wasn't much for her to say without causing a lot of concern and more problems.

-x-

As the two slowly ascended back towards Kimiko's room, Raimundo felt Kimiko's fingers tighten around his. Looking up, he frowned at the sight of a young woman standing in front of Kimiko's door, accompanied by a young boy.

"Aunt Hikari?" Kimiko murmured; her eyes widened. "Aunt Hikari!"

Startled, the young woman turned to her left before letting out a cry of relief. "Kimiko!" Her facial expression quickly softens as she ran to her. Pulling her into a tight hug, she whispered, "Your father called me and begged me to watch over you."

"He's that busy, huh?" Kimiko whispered, slightly disappointed that her father wouldn't show up.

"You know he loves you," the young woman whispered softly. "But he's been really busy lately."

"He's _always _busy."

"Not as busy as he is now, Kimiko," her aunt reminded her. She looked to Kimiko's side and her eyes widen at the sight of Raimundo. "Hello," she said, trying to be courteous. "And who might you be?" Seeing the looks in both of their faces, she already knew the answer to her question.

"A friend," Raimundo said, extending his free hand to her.

"I'm her aunt," her aunt replied, shaking his hand. "This is my son—Kimiko's cousin—Henry."

The little boy automatically hid behind his mother's leg the second his mother introduced him.

"I'm going to fill out information at the front desk, okay?" her aunt said, turning her attention back to Kimiko. "And then get you home. Why don't the two of you take Henry to a lower floor and get something to eat?"

-x-

He was holding onto her hand, trying desperately to keep his attention away from the fact that he could feel sparks of heat from holding her hand. He was thankful that it was Winter Break, giving him two weeks to do whatever she wanted to do. He was also thankful that her aunt Hikari was sweet on him, allowing him to spend as much time as possible with Kimiko.

The two of them were slowly strolling down one of the many make-shift streets of the outdoor market that took place on Main Street every weekend.

"I'm worried about Ashley," Kimiko finally said. "She looks perfectly fine, but the doctors won't let her leave."

"They probably have a reason why," Raimundo replied, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"You're probably right," she said thoughtfully.

"I'm _always _right," he said, grinning at her.

"There he is. There's the Cocky Rai we all know and love," she said, sticking her tongue at him. She looked to her left, fascinated by the many booths around and what they had to offer.

"Not cocky… but _confident._" Raimundo corrected her, a smirk appearing on his face. "So, how's K—Ashley?" He silently cursed after realizing he had nearly said Keiko's name. He knew that Kimiko was still holding a grudge over her ex-best friend. He curiously looked over at her face, trying to see if she had heard him or not. Realizing that the smile has never left her face, he presumed it was safe to say that she didn't hear him nearly blurt out Keiko's name.

"Ashley's at home, resting. Her mom won't let her out of sight," Kimiko sighed. With her left hand entwined with his right, her right hand immediately clung onto the elbow of her left arm. "Her mom grounded her after totaling her car. And she won't let her speak to anyone."

"That sucks," Raimundo said, looking at her. "But I can't blame her mom. She's just worried, that's all."

"I didn't know that," Kimiko replied softly.

_Crap. I forgot. She doesn't have a mother…_ In a slightly frozen state, he wondered what he could say to keep her mind off the matter. "There's this booth I have to show you." _Idiot. Is that all you can think of? _

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. They have the coolest necklaces and charms and what not," Raimundo said, scratching the nape of his head with his left hand. Weaving the two of them through the crowd, it wasn't long before the two of them were standing in front of a small make-shift booth, the smell of corn, incense from the smoke that was rising from another booth, and dust that was going everywhere due to the sudden change in the weather. Pressing his lip to her hair, he whispered in her ear, "Do not pull out your money. We want to bargain with her—or else she'll rip us off."

Trying to keep herself from giggling, she pulled away from him, giving him a silent nod. She watched as he leaned against the table, his chin resting on his palm, his elbow propped up on the table.

"Hello ma'am—"

"Don't you try to sweet talk to me, Raimundo Pedrosa," the wearied woman behind the table said, her hazel eyes crinkling. Placing one hand on her hip, she said, "Your sweet talking may get all the girls, but the only thing you're getting from me is a smack to the head."

"A smack to the wha—" Before he could finish, he felt his head being smacked gently by a rolled up newspaper. "You're still as batty as always, Tillie," he muttered, rubbing his temple.

A toothy grin appears on the old woman's face. Glancing over at Kimiko, her smile widened. "Who's this lovely gal?"

"Tills, this is Kimiko," Raimundo said, introducing the two of them to each other. "She's my—"

"Friend," Kimiko said, cutting him off. "We're friends."

"Mm-hmm," Tillie said, a knowing look appearing in her eyes. Smoothing out the newspaper in her hands, she said, "I'm surprised you still remember me, Raimundo Pedrosa."

"No one can forget a batty old lady like you, Tills," Raimundo said, grinning at her. He looked over at Kimiko. "Tillie used to babysit me and my sister back when my mom and dad worked overtime, trying to save enough money to send Jorge and Sam to college."

"Out of good will, of course," Tillie said, gently smacking Raimundo on the shoulder. "But no one ever remembers that—"

"Good will?" Raimundo snorted. That earned him another slap on the shoulder. "Oh yes, good will," he muttered, a sour look appearing on his face.

Tillie rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Kimiko. "You must like them strange," she commented, causing her face to go red. "But he's a keeper; that he is. Always knew how to treat the ladies in his life right."

"We know that's not true—"

"I've never seen a boy who loves his mother as much as you have. I've never seen a brother so loving towards a sister as you have. And I'm part of your past, and you still check up on me… from time to time, of course."

Kimiko glanced over at Raimundo, to see him blushing and looking away. "Look, he's blushing."

Tillie's eyes sparkled with mischief. "C'mon, boy. I'm just making your girlfriend see how great you are." Seeing the look in both the teenagers' eyes and realizing that the two of them were blushing, she shook her head, a smile appearing on her face. "So, why did Raimundo bring you here, dear?"

Before Kimiko could say something in reply, Raimundo cut her off. "Just wanted to show her all of the amazing trinkets you have."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Raimundo," Tillie replied, an amused look appearing on her face.

"Who said it would?" Raimundo replied innocently, an arrogant smirk appearing on his face.

"I know you, Raimundo," Tillie said, wagging her index finger in front of him. "Don't you forget it, mister."

Kimiko couldn't help but smile at the friendly banter exchanged between Raimundo and Tillie.

"So, what kind of trinkets were you interested in?" Tillie asked, glancing at Kimiko in particular. "I have all kinds… Been collecting them over years and selling them during my free time." She gestured to the case in front of her, where hundreds of trinkets were on display.

Kimiko glanced over at Raimundo, who quickly reassured her. "Pick whatever you want. I'll pay for it."

"Parading around with your money, I see," Tillie said, pursing her lips.

"Hey, live a little, you know?" Raimundo replied, grinning at her, only to cause her to shake her head in disbelief. He quickly glanced down at the display, and one of the many trinkets caught his attention right away. "That one."

Kimiko glanced up from her side of the table in confusion.

"Don't worry," Raimundo said, giving her a reassuring smile. He watched as Tillie unlocked the display box, taking out the sapphire colored trinket. "The colors match your eyes," he softly whispered. Realizing that Tillie had snorted, he shot her a dirty look, to which she returned with an amused one.

"Can I see it?' Kimiko asked, looking at Tillie.

Tillie nodded. Slowly, she extended her hand out towards Kimiko. Feeling Kimiko's hands brush against her wrist, her eyes widen in horror.

"Are you alright?" Kimiko asked, looking at Tillie. She glanced at Raimundo nervously, only to see him shrug.

"Tillie claims that she's psychic," Raimundo said nonchalantly. "I think she's more _psycho_ than psychic."

Pretending not to hear him, she turned her attention to Kimiko. "My dear, be careful."

An alarmed look appeared on her face. "What—"

"Tills, you're scaring her—" Raimundo began protesting, only to be shushed by Tillie.

"Be careful," Tillie whispered once again, her hazel eyes locking on Kimiko's sapphire ones. Her hands were gripped tightly onto Kimiko's shoulders, slightly shaking.

"I will?" Kimiko replied, confused and frightened.

"Be careful with who you trust," Tillie continued, her eyes still locked on Kimiko's.

"Tillie!" Raimundo hissed, glaring at her. "You know that you're not supposed to be talking about this stuff. What would Dr. Ray say?"

"He would say that I'm loony," Tillie hissed. "But I'm always right," she protested.

"Beginner's luck?"

"Hardly," Tillie swallowed. She slowly turned her attention back to the frightened girl in front of her. "I see pain and suffering."

"That's high school for you," Raimundo replied, only to receive a smack on the head from Tillie. "Ouch, woman!"

"Pain and suffering?" Kimiko repeated, her eyes widening in fear.

The old woman nodded. Pulling out a charm from her pocket, she pressed it into her hands, gently folding Kimiko's fingers over it. "This will protect you more than you would ever expect it to. When the time comes, you'll understand."

Looking at the woman, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. "Thank you?"

Tillie nodded. She glanced at Raimundo, and scowled at him. "You better treat her right, Raimundo. Or else I'll call your mother."

"And I'll call your doctor," he replied, his tone revealing that he had no intentions on ever doing so.

"You two better go," Tillie instructed. "You're scaring the customers away with your face, Raimundo."

"Ha, ha," Raimundo said, giving her a smug smile. "You know you love me, Tillie."

She rolled her eyes, a smile appearing on her old, wearied face. "That might be true, but don't press your luck, mister."

-x-

"So, what did Tillie give to you?" Raimundo asked, the second they were out of Tillie's sight.

Opening her hand, her eyes widen at the sight of a circular pendant with marking all over it in her hands. "This," she whispered, holding the pendant by its chain.

"_Nice_," Raimundo said, grinning at her. "She let you have a free one? Tillie never lets anyone have anything for free. She must really like you to give away something so ancient looking as that."

She shrugged, letting out a nervous laugh. "Yeah. I guess," she murmured.

After putting the necklace on, she found herself staring at it. She was intrigued, wondering why Tillie would give her a necklace after the warning she had given her.

"C'mon," Raimundo said, extending a hand at her. "We can't stand here all day. We'll become fire hazards," he joked, knowing that they wouldn't cause traffic from where they were standing. He glanced around just to make sure that they were standing away from the small streets, just in case they were actually fire hazards.

A small grin appears on her face. Accepting his hand, she immediately felt his fingers intertwine with hers.

The next thing they knew, every stands and booths behind them exploded, causing millions of items from the stands flying everywhere, accompanied by the screams of startled people who had witnessed such sight.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Just wanted to point out, all these scenes _did not _happen in one day. The hospital scene(s) took place five days before the other scenes.

I based Tillie off of a few of my favorite characters in a few books/book series that I've been reading for the past few days. Tillie is in her late fifties, early sixties. She's quite spunky, actually. Yes, she's psychic. And yes, she'll be in later chapters as well. She's like an old family friend of the Pedrosas.

Hikari and Henry will be in later chapters as well, since Kimiko's father's been really busy with work.

Sorry for the short post (it feels really short to me for some strange reason), but I've been trying to figure out how I want to bring Jack back into the story. Obviously, not this post/chapter… but he'll appear in later chapters soon.

Happy Holidays/Merry belated Christmas.

**PS, Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 13: Seeking The Truth

Alas, I am sorry for the late update. I've been so lazy during break (reading, spending money, regretting spending the spent money…) and now that school's back, I've been procrastinating on hw.

Also, I wanted to thank Fuzzylogic11 & xXRandomnessXx for nominating _Bittersweet Love _for _Academy of Xiaolin Showdown Fanfiction Awards. _I am truly touched/honored that you guys nominated this story.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Seeking The Truth<strong>

Tillie's eyes widened; her face pale as if she has just seen a ghost. _This can't be happening again. _"The pendant was only supposed to amplify her powers," she murmured, pulling herself up. Out of every booth that was surrounding her, her booth was the only one standing, unharmed.

"Tillie!"

She whirled around, only to find herself staring at Raimundo Pedrosa. "Oh, not again. What do you want, boy?" she asked, trying to make it sound as if she was rather annoyed to see him standing in front of her booth once again. She crossed her arms, trying to milk it for all it's worth.

"What happened?" He asked, gesturing to all of the wreck behind him with his hands. "One minute, everything is all fine and dandy—the next thing we knew, everything exploded. The second Kimiko and I had contact… _bam!_" He made explosion noises and gestures with his hands.

Looking into the young boy's eyes, it quickly dawned on her why everything had exploded. And out of fear, she hoped that her suspicions were false. "Boy," she muttered, gritting her teeth, "get your butt home before I call your mother on you."

He frowned, opened his mouth, ready to say something when he grumbled, "Fine." He crossed his arms, like a child, and muttered, "I will find out, you know."

"We'll see, airhead," she murmured, narrowing her eyes.

"C'mon Rai," Kimiko murmured, softly pulling on the sleeve of his jacket. "Let's go."

-x-

Omi watched the water follow his finger as he slowly moved his finger through the air. It was a new trick that he was learning. He was lying flat on his stomach near the small koi pond, leisurely playing with the water just to frighten the many fishes in the pond. The fishes were starting to trust his presence, and were slowly swimming closer towards him.

"Fung, you have a lot of explaining to do!"

Frightened, the fishes swam away.

Omi looked over his shoulder to see an elderly woman storming through the front door, completely ignoring the "no shoes in the house" policy. He quickly got up to his feet and went after her, after kicking his shoes off. He followed her shadow, only to stop when he heard her yelling.

"You didn't warn me that she was here."

"I clearly remember you telling me that you wanted no part in this," he heard Fung reply. "As I recalled, years ago, your words were, 'I'm done with this.'"

He heard the woman laugh. "Of course I am—was. But that was because Rina decided that she wanted to go to college, and you know that she wanted us to have our own lives. "James married and had two kids. You had your own things, and I had mine. We both didn't marry and settle down because we were trying to stop the prophecy from happening."

He heard Fung reply, "So what are you trying to imply?"

"Rina's daughter is in town," he heard the woman say. "And I gave her the pendant for her to use to amplify her powers just in case someone finds out whose daughter she is."

"Did the pendant work?" he heard Fung ask.

"It worked too well," she whispered. Omi had to strain his neck just to make out the words she had spoken.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything around her exploded."

"The pendant can't do that."

"I know."

"So, what are you trying to imply?"

"The circle must be completed," the woman said. "Simple as that. That's the only explanation that I can think of. But then again, it makes no sense. You see, James and Rina both had kids, which would mean that James' older child, Clay, would have inherited his father's powers, just as how Kimiko would have gained her mother's. But who inherited our powers?"

"You have a point, Tillie. I just thought our powers die with us."

"I thought so too, but it would make no sense. Their circle's generation can't be completed without the dragon of wind and water. And I think I found the dragon of wind."

"Who?"

"Raimundo. I always knew he was an airhead," he heard the woman mutter. "The dragon of wind can amplify the powers of the dragon of fire, due to complimentary powers, remember? Whenever Rani practiced her powers, I was always there to watch her and help her out. Kimiko's powers were already amplified since the circle's complete. With Raimundo, her powers strengthened. And with the pendant, her powers became deadly."

"I see," Fung softly said. "That would mean that we have a dragon of water to look for."

Omi immediately realized that their voices were starting to sound louder, indicating that they were walking towards him. He quickly ran into the living room, where Dojo the dragon was asleep. He pulled out a few textbooks out of his backpack and began trying to make it look like he had been doing his work the entire time.

"We do," the woman reply. "I'll keep an eye out. Word will spread about this, you know. If I could piece this together, how long before someone truly sinister finds out?"

As he watched the woman leave, Omi realized that he had to inform the others and prepare them for the worse to come.

-x-

"Is someone going to tell me why Omi called us to meet him here at five in the morning?" Raimundo asked, shoving branches away from his face as he followed Kimiko and Clay deeper through the forest that was near the back of Omi's home.

"He sounded pretty urgent and desperate," Clay said, shrugging.

"I'm glad that you guys showed up," Omi said, looking up at the three of them. "I have something to tell you guys."

"You're naturally bald?" Raimundo guessed, stroking his chin. "But we all already know that—" He went quiet when Kimiko elbowed him in the stomach.

"Play nice," she hissed, looking at him. She was clutching onto the pendant that Tillie had given her in her hands very tightly. Ever since the incident, she kept it tightly in her hands.

"Look," Omi muttered, looking at Raimundo in particular. "I have something to tell you guys, and you guys have to promise not to react badly."

"We promise," Clay said, nodding. "So, what were you going to tell us that was so urgent that we had to meet you here at five in the morning?"

-x-

As she was trying to get a few more minutes of sleep, she heard her mother knock on the door of her bedroom. "Ashley, you have a visitor."

"If you think you can trick me again just to get me excited, you can forget about it," Ashley hissed, not even bothering to open her eyes.

"Ashley."

Her eyes opened, widening at the sound of the voice. "Jack?" She turned on her side to find herself staring into the eyes of her boyfriend's. Her jaw slightly dropped at the sight of the bruises on his cheek. "What happened?" She whispered. _They're just getting worse._

"You wouldn't believe it," he replied, trying to give her a smile.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes still focused on the bruises.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Jack replied, shrugging.

"I'm going to give you kids some privacy," Ashley heard her mother say, reminding her that her mother was still in the room. "Ashley, don't forget to tell him." She gave her daughter a knowing look.

"Tell me what?" he asked, confused. His eyes were clouded with confusion, and he searched her face for any sign of an answer.

"_You _wouldn't believe it," she said softly, trying to avoid his gaze.

"Tell me," he simply said, shrugging. "It's probably not going to trump what I have to tell you."

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry that this is short. Argh. I really do want to write more—but if I write more, the update would be this Saturday or Sunday. I'll try to update again this weekend, to make up for this short post.

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	16. Chapter 14: The Beginning of The End

**Chapter 14: The Beginning of The End**

"What were you thinking?" Raimundo snapped, crossing his arms. His nostrils were flaring; his green eyes the darkest shade of green imaginable.

"I was trying to protect you—"

"By leaving us blind in the dark?" Clay barked; his arms already crossed. "We could have helped, you know," he added, his expression softened.

"And we could have trained—practiced with our powers," Raimundo continued, throwing his hands in the air.

"Rai—calm down," Kimiko said, placing her hand on his tense shoulder. She turned to Omi. "We shouldn't turn on him. We should be glad that he actually told us. He didn't have to tell us, you know. But he did. And that's what really matter."

"Fine," Raimundo said, his voice softening. He looked over at Omi. "You're the genius, chrome-dome. Why don't you tell us what to do?"

-x-

Keiko was quiet, slowly pacing back and forth in her room. Everything wasn't going to plans. _Kimiko and Raimundo are still together, despite the odds._ She let out a small gasp when she heard a clang against her windowsill. Making her way to her window, she looked down to find herself staring at Jack Spicer. _Of course it would be him. He's the only person who threw rocks at my window._

She opened her mouth, ready to tell him something when he motioned her to be quiet by placing his finger on his mouth. She nodded. She quickly pulled the latch to the window and pushed it outward.

In a few minutes, Jack Spicer was in her room.

"I received your text," Keiko said, crossing her arms. "I think that you're being stupid by coming over here—"

"And I think you're quite a bitch," Jack replied lazily, only to be socked in the arm. "But bitch or not, we're allies. You're not the only one whose loved ones are in trouble."

She snorted. "You don't seem that miserable around them. You're practically their lap dog—"

"It's called, 'acting,'" Jack retorted, his crimson-colored eyes dark. "Besides, you're the only one who understands the pain I've been going through lately."

She sighed. If anyone had asked her a few months ago, _do you think you'll end up acquaintances with Spicer? _She would have laughed at them in their face and sent them off to the loony bin.

"When I came home, I found this on my nightstand," Jack said, shrugging. "On the night of the accident."

Keiko's eyes widen as he handed her an envelope. She—just like everyone else—has heard about the accident, where Ashley and Kimiko crashed into a tree, causing a panic throughout the town. Thinking about Kimiko, it made her think about how her best friend in the entire world hated her. Fearing that she would start crying—and knowing that she didn't want to cry in front of anybody, especially Jack—she opened the envelope.

_This is what happens when you don't devote 100% of your loyalty to us. She's becoming quite a nuisance, getting in the way. Wouldn't it be best if something just happened to her?_

Keiko's eyes darted back up to Jack. "They're on to you, Spicer."

"No shit, Sherlock," Jack replied, crossing his arms. He uncrossed them, ran his right hand through his hair, and then crossed them again. "I heard that Kimiko was barely hurt—she was lucky."

Keiko nodded, slowly folding the paper back into the envelope. "What about Ashley?"

"She was badly hurt," Jack muttered, his voice laced with bitterness. "And then she told me something—and now I'm really afraid for her. If _they _find out about it, they'll kill her for sure."

"Wait, what?" Keiko said, looking at him.

"She made me promise not to tell anyone," Jack said.

"But we're allies."

"And she's my girlfriend," he said. "Besides, when we got into a fight, I regretted a few things I said. And she wouldn't talk to me, or help me ease my guilty conscience. And I was bothered by it—and they don't like their _soldiers _to be distracted. If I tell you this, you'll be bothered by it too. The last thing we need is for you to come home to find your family murdered."

She sighed. "Fine." She looked at him. "But what she told you—was it something of a happy occasion or a sad occasion?"

"All I know is that she didn't anticipate my reaction and now she's extremely pissed off at me," he said, giving her a small, lopsided smile.

Keiko laughed. "Serves you right, Spicer."

-x-

For the next few days, the four of them would meet at the same time in the forest behind Omi's house. They started studying with the scrolls Omi would smuggle out of his house, learning new tactics and tricks that could be applied when it comes to their powers.

Sitting on a bolder, the four of them were watching the sun setting, enjoying the view, peace, and quiet.

"You know," Omi said, breaking the calm tranquility, "we should all get matching costumes like superheroes would."

"We're not the fantastic four, chrome-dome," Raimundo said, rolling his eyes. "And I thought you wanted us to remain a low profile. Wearing matching costumes practically screams for attention."

"Besides," Clay added; a grin on his face, "I do not look good in leotards."

Raimundo looked over his shoulder, a grin on his face as he waited for Kimiko to add something into the conversation, but she was quiet. _She's been so quiet lately. _"You alright?" he asked, his left brow arched.

She nodded. "I was just thinking, that's all. Like, what if I had convinced my dad to not let us move? Would you guys have lived your normal lives, if it wasn't for me?"

Raimundo shook his head. "Don't think about that, Kimiko. That kind of thinking is the kind that leads people into deep depression."

"Yeah," Clay added, nodding. "Besides, we'd all probably die with boredom in this small town. There's not much to do here. So, you're doing us a favor, really."

She rolled her eyes. "You guys are so cheesy and corny."

"Wait, why are we vegetables?" Omi asked, confused.

"It's an expression," Clay whispered to him. "So… have any of you guys talked to Keiko lately?"

"And lover boy changes the subject back to Keiko once again," Raimundo said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm just worried about her, that's all," Clay said, crossing his arms. "Don't pretend that I'm the only one who's worried about her. We're all close friends with her."

"I think she's in trouble," Omi muttered. "She's been so antsy and acting quite paranoid, as if someone's watching all of her every move."

They all looked at Kimiko.

"What?" she said, crossing her arms. "Girls hold terrible grudges against other girls. I still have mine against her. And when girls have terrible grudges against other girls, we only notice what's wrong with them. And the only thing I've seen lately is that she looks like a mess."

Raimundo smirked. "You're worried about her, too."

She snorted, letting out a small huff. Sighing in defeat, she nodded.

He grinned at her. "Who's the cheesy one now?"

"Still you," she shot back, rolling her eyes. "But I really, really am worried about her, guys."

-x-

"Where do you think you're going?"

She froze, dropping her bike in startled surprise. She was already halfway through the door when the lights behind her turned on. Slowly turning around, she found herself looking up at her mother. "Out, mom."

"Ashley, you need your rest," her mother protested, her arms folded against her chest.

"Mom, I'll be back before you know it," Ashley said. "I need some fresh air, anyway."

Her mother's expression remained hard for a few seconds, before softening. "Oh, alright. You have your cell phone with you, right?"

Ashley nodded. She hastily picked up her bike and slowly rolled it out of the backdoor. She slowly got onto it and pedaled off towards the direction of the abandoned manor a few blocks away from her house.

By the time she reached the manor, she saw a few familiar cars parked across the street. Throwing her bike behind the bushes of the house a few doors down, she slowly walked towards the manor. The manor, itself, blended in the dark with its old Victorian style and a color scheme that consisted of black and dark gray.

Walking into the house, her eyes widen in surprise at the sight of Jack sitting next to Keiko. The feeling bubbling inside her wasn't of jealousy, but of suspicion. She didn't trust that Keiko girl at all, and she knew that she didn't trust her as well.

"Ash? What are you doing here?" Jack asked, realizing that his girlfriend was there.

"I'm not going to miss anything," she softly spat.

"That's a good spirit," she heard a voice purr behind her, causing chills to run up and down her spine.

Slowly looking over her shoulder, she found herself staring into Wuya's green eyes.

"Glad that you had a speedy recovery," Wuya purred, throwing her arms around Ashley's shoulders. "Wouldn't want something _bad _to _happen _to _you_ again."

_Is she threatening me?_ Ashley wondered, slightly confused.

"Wu, leave the poor girl alone," Chase said, appearing out of the darkness. His eyes, snakelike as they were, frightened her. Especially when they were narrowed. Following his gaze, she realized that he wasn't upset that he saw her. It was Keiko. "What is _she _doing here?"

"I'm surprise that you didn't know," Ashley said icily. "She's the newest member." _A replacement for me, I bet._ And then it dawned on her. _Chase Young didn't know that Keiko joined the league? But… I thought he was the leader._

Chase's eyes remained narrowed as he glanced over at Wuya. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were so busy, that's all," Wuya said, shrugging. She looked at Ashley, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. "Besides, what are _you _doing here? I thought you joined their league, with all that time you spent with that Tohomiko girl."

"I'm just using Kimiko, that's all," Ashley said, lying. "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer."

"So," Jack said, clearing his throat. "You two showed up late. What kept you two so long? Normally, you two are always the first ones here."

"We were busy," Chase hissed. It was obvious that he didn't want to reveal anything else, but Wuya continued on.

"If we want the girl to join our side, we need to do something so traumatic to her that it'll change her forever," Wuya said, an evil grin appearing on her face. "Besides, Ashley. Haven't you realized how odd it's been lately? How Kimiko's father hasn't been in the picture for quite some time now?"

Ashley's eyes widen in horror. "You didn't—"

"No, we didn't kill him… Yet," Wuya purred, a sinister look was on her face. "We've held him captive for quite a while now. It's quite a pity that he's not willing to do what we're demanding."

Ashley looked at Jack and Keiko, who all wore a shocked expression.

"But then again, how do you convince a man to blow his brains out for us? And make it look like it was _them _who did it to her father? And even if we do convince him to, we only have one take on recording it," Wuya said, batting her lashes. "So we sent a letter for her aunt, telling her that Kimiko needed someone to watch over her. Now, we just have to wait until the timing is right."

"Timing is right for what?" Keiko asked.

"To take her aunt hostage and threaten to kill her," Wuya said. "We would have killed that airheaded Raimundo, but he's the dragon of the wind and we need him alive."

Ashley's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How do _you _know this?"

"I have my sources," Wuya said, grinning at her. "And we can't kill Raimundo—without me losing my powers. We can get rid of him later, though, after we get rid of the girl."

"'Get rid of the girl?'" Jack asked, confused.

"Oh yes," Chase Young said, cutting his girlfriend off. "Wu and I want eternal youth, as you guys know. And there's an elixir that would give us what we want. It requires a few herbs and ingredients here and there—"

"Was that why you guys were absent?" Jack demanded.

Ignoring him, Chase continued. "But the potion requires two major ingredients. The blood of the dragon of fire."

"It doesn't seem that hard," Ashley said, crossing her arms. "You could have just gone up to her and ask her or cut her or something."

"Let me rephrase it," Chase slowly said. "The blood of a _turned_ dragon of fire."

Ashley's eyes narrowed. She already knew that she had to stop them—which were why she was doing everything she could to keep them from corrupting her. If they get their heart's desire, she knew it would be bad for not only her, but for Jack. And out of her love for Jack, it gave her enough reasons to try to do everything she could to keep Kimiko good.

"And we need somethingor _someone _to _persuade _her," Chase said, smirking.

_Is he looking at me? _Ashley thought, her arms crossed. She felt uneasy. Kimiko was her friend, and she didn't want to have to turn on her just to fool them.

"_Keiko_," Chase said, staring at the girl next to Jack. "We all know that Jack and Ashley have already proven their loyalty to us… Now, it's your turn." He turned and looked at his girlfriend. "Wu, would you do us an honor and take Keiko upstairs and tell her everything."

Ashley and Jack exchanged looks from across the room. _They don't want us to know what Keiko has to do. They don't trust us._

Ashley moved aside so that Wuya could walk into the room. She looked at Chase, feeling uneasy. She avoided looking at his snake-like eyes.

"You know, Jack," Chase said, a smug look written all over his face as he sat down next to Jack, "doesn't Ashley look positively glowing?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ** So many people nominated this story for TheXGrayXLady's _Academy of Xiaolin Showdown Fanfiction Awards_. I am so touched (even though I'm pretty sure this story won't win).

A personal thanks to Fuzzylogic11, xXRandomnessXx, XboneX, & Sunshine5643 for nominating this story!

Also, a person thanks to all of those who are reading this story, adding this to favorite, adding this to alert, and etc. You guys rock and make my day!

There's still a lot of questions unanswered, such as who's mystery man (the guy who spied on Kimiko & Raimundo), who's the guy who attacked Kimiko, who does Keiko really love, etc. (I'm starting to lose track of all of the questions XD), but I've been leaving a few clues in here to answer (or help you answer) a few questions.

But I really like this chapter—because I really like the Ashley & Jack coupling, and I'm going to write more of it (because I just got the greatest idea for this couple for this story! Eeps!)


	17. Chapter 15: Twist

**Chapter 15: Twist**

"_Rise_ and _shine_!"

"_Mother of God!_" Ashley shouted; blinded by the lights that was shining through her window. She narrowed her eyes, squinting at the figure in her room, trying to figure out who the distorted silhouette was. Her dark eyes immediately locked onto Kimiko's sapphire blue ones. "What's going on?"

"Your mother had to go into work early today—_so_ she asked me to come over," Kimiko said.

"I _don't _need a _babysitter_. I _need _sleep," Ashley protested, grabbing the pillow on the other side of her bed. She tossed it at Kimiko, who caught it.

"Too much sleep is a bad thing," Kimiko pointed out.

"Too little sleep is a bad thing as well," Ashley retorted. "'Sides… I couldn't sleep last night."

"_I don't _want to hear whatever you did last night," Kimiko said, grinning at her friend. "Your mother did tell me that you were hanging out with Jack—"

"Well, don't worry your pretty little head off," Ashley replied, pulling the covers over her head, trying to shield herself from the sun. "All we did was talk…"

"Wow, you guys are boring," Kimiko teased. "So, things worked out between the two of you?"

"Obviously," Ashley murmured. She sighed, pushing the covers off of her. "I can't stay mad at him for long… Besides, that boy can't survive a day without me."

Kimiko smirked. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"It's probably because Raimundo's like that towards you," Ashley pointed out, causing her to blush. "It's true though. Besides, I'm _always _right."

-x-

"There's one thing I don't understand," Jack said, crossing his arms. "Why can't I tell Ashley?"

"Because they're suspicious of her," Keiko pointed out, rolling her eyes. "They can tell that she's lying—she might be a skilled liar, but they're better deceivers than she can be."

"You'd be surprise," Jack pointed out. "That's Ashley for you. Always surprising people."

Keiko sighed. The two of them were sitting in her room, the two of them staring at the ceiling. "Besides, it's better to keep her in the dark. If they do interrogate her, they'll shortly find out that she's not a part of _this_."

"But they won't—because I won't let them," he said in a stubbornly tone. "And that's why I'll do whatever it takes to bring them down."

"You must really hate being part of this if you're willing to rebel against them."

"They're not my reasons why," Jack replied.

"Right. _Ashley_," Keiko snorted, waving her hands in the air. She tilted her head so that she could stare into Jack's eyes. "You must really love her."

"I do," Jack said. "I'm _crazy_ about her."

She couldn't help but feel her face redden. "Did you always feel this way towards her?"

"No," he said, a twinkle appearing in his eyes as a smile crept onto his face. "She grew on me—in a good way." He turned to look at her. "And I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I mean, if you had the chance to protect the person that you love, wouldn't you do it?"

She nodded. "Of course. That's what I'm doing now."

He nodded. "Good to know that we're on the same page."

"Can't believe it though," Keiko replied, a smirk appearing on her face. "Can't believe that I have something in common with the notorious Jack Spicer."

"So… what does Wuya and Chase wants you to do to prove your 'loyalty?'"

"You wouldn't believe it even if I told you, Spicer."

-x-

"Smile, Raimundo," Zoe hissed, poking her brother in the rib. "We want the bride and groom to look back at their wedding pictures to see that everyone was happy and excited for them at their wedding."

He faked a smile, showing his teeth. "How's this?" he muttered through his clenched teeth.

"Better," Zoe replied. She sighed as she said, "Give me your phone, Rai. You're so distracted with it."

"No, I'm not," Raimundo replied, crossing his arms.

"Yes, you are," she replied. She was practically beaming as she waved at their uncle. "Lovely wedding, Uncle Tito!"

"Kiss up," Raimundo hissed, jiggling the phone in his right hand.

"I might be a kiss up, but the adults _love _me," she singsonged. She jumped and snatched his phone out of his hands, running off into the crowd of dancers on the ballroom floor.

He sighed, shaking his head. He looked over to his left to find himself surprised to see Clay and Jessie walking through the entrance of the hotel—where the wedding was taking place.

"We're friends of the bride," Jessie said, crossing her arms as she walked up to Raimundo. "You?"

"Related to the groom," Raimundo said, shrugging. He watched his sister emerge from the crowd of dancers, her eyes wide.

"You're dating her?" she shouted, loud enough for a few adults to glance over at them.

"No, I'm _not_," he replied, grabbing his new phone out of her hands. "She and I are just friends—"

She snorted. "That's what Uncle Tito said three years ago… and look where we are now."

-x-

"This is nice," Ashley said, leaning back so that her back would press against the bench. Her blond hair was in a ponytail for once, her face without the dark makeup she would normally wear.

"It is," Kimiko said. "I just love the serenity of this park—it's so peaceful and quiet." She pulled out a bag of sliced bread. She turned to look at Ashley, a grin on her face. "Feeding ducks tends to kill the serenity—but its major fun."

Ashley couldn't help but grin back as she watched Kimiko pull out a slice of bread. "Seeing sliced bread reminds me of how you dragged me out of bed and out of the house before I could even get breakfast—"

"Bread?" Kimiko offered, sticking her tongue at Ashley.

Ashley grimaced at her. "Never mind. I'll just wait for the snack vender to show up. _I'm_ not going to share a meal with the birds."

Kimiko shrugged. "Suit yourself." She said as she started to tear the slice into pieces before chucking them into the water. "Just letting you know, I've been to the park a lot the past few days with my aunt and Henry and the vender keeps on showing up later and later each day—"

"I'd still rather wait for the vender than share meals with the birds."

-x-

Keiko was quiet, keeping an eye on the two guards who stood strongly in front of the door, guarding it obviously. She silently cursed Wuya's name, hating Wuya even more than ever. She heard a clatter behind her, causing her to whirl around. Jack, of course, had dropped the metal pipe that he had swiped from her backyard. _He's so annoying_, she thought to herself as she shot him a dirty look, sending him a message to be quiet. _I should have sent him home—but no, I needed to talk to someone who understands what I'm going through. And then Wuya had to make matters worse by sending me a text with the location she had told me to go to earlier._

"Can't we just ask them if we could go through?" Jack asked, looking at her.

"Look, boy," she said, shooting him another _shut-up_ look. "I'm glad that you wanted to come along, but things are about to get serious."

He shrugged. "You're going to need me just in case you get caught—which you will, I'm pretty sure you will—but I'm Jack _Spicer_, a name that could get us out of any trouble."

"And I'm Keiko—the girl who's going to hit you with that pipe if you don't _shut up_!"

He raised a brow. "Geez. What got you so snappy—"

"I'm just playing out many different scenarios in my head," she replied, her voice soft and sullen. "What would happen if I fail this—"

"You're not—"

"But I _am_—"

"You. Won't. Trust. Me."

She clasped her hand over his mouth, turned her attention back to the door only to realize that the two guards were gone. Instead, the door—which was shut a few minutes earlier—was left ajar.

"You stay here," Keiko instructed, turning her attention back to Jack, peeling her hand off his mouth. She was slightly surprised to see that his lips formed a thin line. "And you keep an eye out for the guards." She turned her back toward him and took off, quickly sprinting towards the door that wasn't guarded at the moment. All she could think about was how she kept on seeing her life flashing before her eyes, thinking of one special person in particular.

-x-

"I'm surprised you're 'dating' someone," Jessie said, giving Raimundo a smug look. Her blond hair was styled into a French braid, a few tendrils of hair framing her face. Her normally dark make up was replaced with a lighter tone, giving her a fresher look. It was a look that Raimundo wasn't used to see Jessie pulling off. It was a look that Raimundo hasn't seen in years.

"Nice hair," he commented, smirking when he saw a sour look appear on her face.

"Shut up," she replied, looking away. He knew that she felt the same way when it came to dressing up to the standards when it comes to weddings. "I heard that Zoe and you were in a car crash."

He nodded. "I'm so lucky that Zoe and I didn't get hurt—"

"You _should_ be glad of how fortunate and lucky you are," she said, looking away. "Some people don't have second chances, you know?"

He could feel himself getting uncomfortable. He knew that Jessie wasn't one to cry, but he knew where the conversation was going. "How are you doing?" He asked, surprising himself with how soft his voice was.

"I'm doing fine," Jessie said, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. "I have a boyfriend, actually."

"I'm glad," he said. He _was_ glad. Her last boyfriend had broken up with her after realizing how much she had changed after that one tragic summer. It wasn't so long ago. Jessie and her best friend since they were toddlers, Amelia Clarke, got into a huge fight just a week before school started. Amelia had wanted to go to this party to see if her crush—a name that Raimundo had forgotten—was there. Jessie was ticked—from what he recalled—due to the fact that Amelia had promised to go see a Harry Potter flick that had just been released—he couldn't remember which installment—but he remember Clay, Jermaine, and Omi kept on pestering him to go with them to the premiere. He remembered that nasty words were exchanged—because Jessie ended up going to see the movie with Clay, Omi, Jermaine, and him.

A drunk driver. It was a drunk driver who had crashed into Amelia's sister's Sedan, killing the two sisters on impact. From what Clay had told him a few days later, it was their parents who had to break the news to Jessie. After that day, Jessie wasn't the same.

The sweet, innocent, and sassy Jessie he knew died that day.

A quiet, moody, and still-sassy Jessie took her place.

"It's Sam," she blurted out, causing him to raise a brow.

"As in Sam-Sam?" he muttered in disbelief. _As in the Sam that Amelia had such a huge crush on?_

"Not Amelia's Sam," Jessie said, shaking her head. "Sammy Altair."

He nodded in approval. Sammy "Sam" Altair was the guy who was in every AP class, was in almost every sport, and was probably president or vice president of at least half of the clubs on campus. "Glad to know that you're not dating some drug dealer or a junky from off the street—"

"Please," she said, laughing. "I have standards, you know. Glad to know that you're not dating bimbos or idiots anymore."

"I'm not dating anyone—"

"That's not what Zoe says," Jessie sang. "And I choose Zoe's words over yours."

"But she could be lying—"

"Why would she lie?" Jessie asked. "I think the only person lying here is you, yourself."

-x-

She wasn't going to lie—the building was very oddly familiar to her, sending her familiar vibes. Narrowing her eyes, she rubbed her arms self-consciously as she slowly stumbled further and further away from the entrance. Why did this place look so familiar?

Her eyes quickly lingered over towards the few crates that were scattered around the dusty floor. _Dust, _she thought to herself, still rubbing her arms. _Signs that no one has been in here for forever… or that these crates haven't been touched or moved in a very, very long time._

"What are you doing here, child?"

She whirled around—finding herself staring into green eyes, slowly becoming mesmerized by it. A short woman, strong and sturdy despite her height, was facing her. Golden chains were hanging off of her neck, charms and talismans were hanging off of her neck, her hair up in a messy bun. "You—"

"I know why I'm here, for goodness sakes," the woman replied, her eyes narrowed. "And that's because I own this place."

Keiko immediately looked away, finding herself staring at the ground. "I did not know that," she said, sounding rather flatly. She slowly looked up, making sure that her eyes wouldn't meet her gaze.

"You do not belong here," the woman hissed. "Go home before I tell your parents that you broke into my warehouse."

"You know, that trick might work on Raimundo, but it will not work on me," Keiko hissed, glaring at the woman. "And I know"—she pointed to herself with her thumb—"that it will not work on me… _Tillie."_

Tillie's green eyes flashed, yet her face remained content. "What happened to you, child?"

"I grew up. Kids do that, you know?" Keiko said, suddenly regretting sending Jack off. Jack didn't know Tillie like she did, and knowing Jack's loud and obnoxious ego, he would have kept her from feeling… so insecure when it came to confronting Tillie.

An amused smile appeared on Tillie's weathered face. "Yes, I do know that. What I'm curious about is… how."

"What do you mean?" Keiko's dark eyes flashed in anger and confusion.

"All I want to know is how—how a sweet girl like you turned into a pawn of their games," Tillie said, her arms folded against her chest, the charms hanging off of her chain jingled.

"You'll be surprised how much a girl would do when it comes to family," she replied, her voice hostile, distant, and cold.

"And love?"

Keiko's face went pink.

"Because I know what they have promised you," Tillie said; her voice loud and clear. "And let me tell you, you're an idiot if you believe them."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Guess who finally updated this again? This very lazy and procrastinating chick… that's who.

I lost track of time, lost some of this chapter (as my flash-drive went wonky at school, and now I'm just mad at it), and went extremely stressed out to the point where I got lazy (due to school reasons) and what not.

Right now, I feel like Keiko's character's bipolar—for some strange, odd reason (even though she's not). One minute, she's a victim to what's going on, the next, she's like a mega b—_witch_. Erm, yes. A major witch.

There's still a lot, a lot of unanswered questions. And more question and answers to come along. I would have published this chapter sooner, but I found a great cartoon (Young Justice) and I've been freaking out over who might die (as the producer(?) had stated, "not everybody will make it), and who the "mole" is. But then someone had to spoil it on tumblr, ruining it for me (and shocking me at the same time). Seriously, though. It's such a brilliant show—and even though Brazil, Turkey, and Portuguese got episodes before the US does, I'm still excited to see it when it comes out for Cartoon Network for the US. Haha, I'm such a superhero nerd. (Ugh, I'm still in a glass case of emotions… from YJ and The Hunger Games).

Anyways,

**Thank you for reading! Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated!**


	18. Chapter 16: When Birds Cry

**Chapter 16: When Birds Cry**

"So that's what she told you?" Jack said, still confused. "That you were an idiot?" He was sitting on the bench, watching the pigeons go at the bread crumbs that he had just tossed on the ground a few seconds before. His eyes darted over to Keiko for a second, only to see that look of fear and shame still written all over her face. "You're not an idiot—"

"Then how did I get stuck working for that manipulative shark and that toad of a boyfriend?" Keiko hissed in reply. Her dark hair was in tangles, notifying him that she's too stressed out to even care about her appearances. She let out a sigh. "You're lucky, Spicer. You're doing this to protect a person you know that loves you back. I, on the other hand, am screwed either way."

He let out a sigh. He watched a few of the children at the park dart across the fields in front of them, before saying, "You're not screwed. _I _have a plan."

"Well, at least now I know I'm officially screwed."

"_Hey!_"

"Just kidding, Spicer. Take a joke," she said, giving him a fake smile. She sighed. "So what happens if our plan fails?"

"It won't."

"But what happens if it does, Jack? We can't just assume that it will all go according to plan—"

"How about we not bum ourselves out over that, hmm?" Jack said, giving her a cursory glance. "Let's freak out over what Wu has assigned to you, since you've 'failed' the assignment that she had given to you before."

"I didn't fail it! I just couldn't do it. I didn't expect it to be Tillie—" The rest of her words were lost as she broke out into tears, burying her face into her hands.

"I know, Kei. I know," he replied, sounding extremely sympathetic. "We'll figure a way out of this, I promise."

-x-

Ashley was quiet, wedged behind a few crates and empty boxes. Her hands and elbows were coated with dust and dirt, something she ignored as she tried to keep quiet. She kept her eyes on the door, waiting for Wuya and Chase to appear. It had taken her thirty minutes, at least, to break into the mansion that Wuya and Chase had easy access to; as she wasn't with Jack, who had the other set of keys. But at this point, she wasn't even sure who had the keys to this place and who didn't. She was pretty sure that on her left arm, there was most likely a long or short—at this point, she wasn't even sure—cut from earlier, when she had broken into the mansion with the upstairs' window.

The crows perched on the tree branches outside the window kept cawing away, annoying her to her heart's content. How she wished she could go at them and chase them away; but in order to keep her whereabouts a secret, she had to remain quiet. The front door to the mansion swung open, followed by a gust of wind, as she heard footsteps become louder and louder as they came closer to the living room.

"—He's not dead, correct?" A deep male voice asked as the footsteps came to a stop.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid. He's been tortured—and worn out… but he's still alive," she heard Chase reply.

Ashley could hear their voices as they entered the mansion. She immediately found herself sinking lower, trying to conceal herself in the shadows casted from the crates and boxes. She could recognize Chase's voice immediately, but she wasn't even sure who he was talking to. _Who are they talking about?_

"Don't do anything rash," another voice—a female's—said. "The last thing we need is police involvement."

_Police? _Her eyes widening in alarm. How she ached to look up from her hiding place to see who the heck Chase was talking to. She couldn't help but frown. _I've heard that voice before._

"The police here are too oblivious to what goes on in this little town," Chase said. "If they knew what goes on—they'd be in for quite a surprise. Speaking of surprise… why don't you surprise our unwelcomed guess, Wu."

_Wu? _Ashley froze. She barely had a few seconds to herself when she felt the crates that had kept her hidden get blasted by a powerful spell that Wuya had casted. She let out a yelp of pain as the impact of the blast slam her against the wall.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Wuya said, smiling down at her. Her green eyes were glowing, a ghastly look on her face. "Especially since we didn't invite you here."

"Well," Ashley couldn't help but say, "It isn't your house, you know… besides, I thought I forgot something here." She was about to push herself up, when she felt Wuya kick her back down to the ground. She winced in pain as she felt the back of her head hit the marbled floor.

"The only thing you forgot was the meaning of loyalty," Wuya hissed, glaring at her. A sai appeared in her hands, glinting in the dim lighting shining from the old chandelier hanging behind her. She brought the tip of the long blade towards Ashley's face, causing the girl to squeeze her eyes shut. "Such a pretty face—too bad it all ends tonight."

"Wu, that's enough," Chase hissed, causing the sai in Wuya's hand to disappear. "We don't want to scare her… much, now do we?"

A disappointed look appeared on Wuya's face. "But we have no need for her anymore," Wuya protested. "Can't we just get rid of her? She's starting to become such a hassle to keep alive."

"If we want that monkey to continue working for us, we need her alive," he snapped, folding his arms against his chest. "She's the main reason he's trying so hard to keep us pleased. He wants her safe. As long as he continues to work for us, we need to give him a reason to do so."

Ashley couldn't help but wince, despite the fact that she wasn't in pain anymore. They were talking about Jack, her Jack. "I won't tell him anything that happens here, honest," she stuttered, stammering with her words. "Besides, I only came here to see if I could help you two in any ways possible."

"That's the thing, Ash," Wuya said, leaning closer to her. "We don't need your help anymore." Her tanned fingers curled up into a fist as she grabbed the collar of Ashley's blouse. "We just only need you for one thing."

The last thing Ashley could hear or remember before fading into a realm of black was the sound of the raven's cries.

-x-

"There's a boy outside waiting to speak to you," Kimiko's aunt Hikari said, wiping her pale hands on the dish rag. Her dark hair was tied back in an intricate bun, consisting of many braids and knots.

Kimiko immediately looked at her cousin, who was playing with one of the few latest new toys that her father's company had developed. He looked at Kimiko and shook his head, his hair flying wildly. "It's not me. I wouldn't be waiting outside to talk to you."

She stuck her tongue at him before ruffling his hair. "Good to know that I have a _sweet_ cousin," she said, patting him on the head.

She barely made it to the door when she spotted Clay seated on the porch swing, his blond hair flowing with the gentle breeze. He was clutching onto his hat, looking off towards the far distance. "Clay?"

"Yessir?" He turned his attention to her and gave her a meek smile. "Omi told me to go fetch you so we can work on our basics."

Kimiko made a face, before rubbing her wrist. "It still hurts from the time Omi accidentally kicked me," she said, sitting down next to him. "He's over-working us, that's what. We need a break every now and then."

He shrugged. "He's just very cautious, that's all." He looked at her, his blond hair a golden halo from the light casted from the orange sunset all around them. "Maybe we could kidnap him, hog-tie him, and leave him in a closet for just a night."

"Yeah, but what about Rai?" Kimiko asked, giggling at the idea of seeing Omi hog-tied.

"He can fetch us the rope," Clay joked. "But all jokes aside, we have to train—who knows what potentials we could unlock or find out about ourselves."

She looked away, shaking her head. "We didn't ask for this, Clay. I don't think Rai signed up for this either. It's like—it's like Omi knew that this was going to happen or something—as if he had expected it to happen."

Clay shook his head. "He probably found out about his _abilities _and freaked out, and studied away until he found out what was going on."

Kimiko bit her lower lip, slowly debating whether or not she should trust Clay's words. Letting out a small sigh, she nodded. "You do know him longer than I have."

He nodded before putting his hat back on his head. "Now, let's get going—before Raimundo thinks I kidnapped his girl and took her away."

-x-

Keiko found herself staring at her ceiling, trying to connect the dots that were on her ceiling. She was tossing her teddy bear repeatedly into the air, her mind busy and all over the place. It was barely eight, but she knew that time didn't matter. She wasn't going to be able to fall asleep either way. Especially since she has so much to think over. She glanced at the window, finding herself startled when a rock flew through the side that had been opened earlier in the day, when she had found the temperature in her room too hot to stand.

She immediately jumped off her bed, running quickly towards the window. "Are you an idiot?" she hissed, looking down towards the lawn where Jack Spicer stood. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come up?" he replied, gesturing to her window. "I have to talk to you. It's urgent."

Keiko frowned. "How urgent?"

"I can't tell you out here," he said, shaking his head. "There might be lurkers in the shadow."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Fine. Come on up." She found herself stunned when she thought Jack had flown up towards her bedroom window. "What the—"

"Jet packs," Jack replied, jerking his thumb towards his back.

"You came all the way from your fancy house to show me your toy?" Keiko replied, not at all amused. A blank look appeared on her face as she waited for one of his crazy explanation. She knew that he always had a knack for creating knick-knacks, and would be a fine successor in the Spicer Corp… but she didn't really believe that he was that involve in creating crazy gadgets.

"No," he replied, shaking his head in a frantic manner. He pulled out a scrap of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Read it," he said, as he turned his attention towards the jet pack. Pressing a button on a remote that he had stashed in his other pocket, the jet pack sputtered to a stop.

Keiko couldn't help but roll her eyes. "If my parents walk into my room and see you, you owe me a llama." She glanced at the piece of paper, and found her dark eyes widening in horror. "_Is this some kind of a joke, Spicer?" _She snapped, glaring at him. Realizing the look of desperation was on his face, she glanced at the piece of paper once again. "Who was this originally suppose to go to?"

"Ashley's mother," Jack replied, sitting down on her bed. "She believes that her daughter's been kidnapped, and that they want money from her."

"But the note says that she can't tell anyone—or that she can't alert the cops," Keiko pointed out, handing the piece of paper back to him. "How do you know about this, then?"

"Because I'm a Spicer," Jack said, rubbing his elbows. "And Ash's mom knows that my family's loaded with cash." Realizing that Keiko was giving him a look of suspicion, he added, "And I would probably spend every penny we have to make sure that she's safe."

"Maybe it's a scam—her mom is kind of desperate for money," Keiko said, shrugging. "It's a small town, Spicer. We all hear things."

He shook his head. "It has Wuya and Chase written all over it."

Keiko let out a gasp of horror. "Okay, you didn't tell me that. I'm not a mind-reader, Spicer. Why would they have her—"

"I think they want to scare me," Jack finally said, shaking his head. His fingers curled at his side. "But I don't know why—they promised they weren't going to do anything—as long as I do everything they tell me to do, no questions asked."

"Maybe they want you to up your game?" Keiko guessed, shaking her head. She looked at him. "They probably knew that Ashley's mother would contact you—they were probably sure of it. If they had came to you right away, and told you that they had taken her hostage—you would have done everything to keep her mom from finding out. No, they told her that they had kidnapped her—because they need to have her mother on your conscience. Wow, they're good." Realizing he was shooting her a dirty look, she shook her head. "I mean, they really know how to plan ahead. But why did you come to me?"

"What do you mean? I tell you everything. You're the only one who understands," Jack said, looking at her.

She let out a sigh. "Maybe it wasn't me that you were supposed to confide with about this," she said. "What if you were supposed to tell Kimiko?"

"Now, why the heck would I tell her?"

"I don't know… maybe it has to do with the fact that she's one of Ashley's closest friends?" Keiko snapped. "And Wuya and Chase are trying to get her to join their side—what better way than to use Ashley against her."

"Why not Raimundo?" Jack asked, confused. "Or you—you are her best friend."

"Ex-best friend," Keiko corrected; a hint of jealousy and sarcasm in her voice. "Besides, Raimundo has a _huge_ family. If he goes missing, it would create a panic—everyone in town would hear about it. Besides… she wouldn't care if anything happened to me."

"Oh, contraire," Jack said, looking at her. "A girl's bond with her friend is strong—girl power and all that. Girls are very loyal to their friends. She's just mad that you tried to sabotage her relationship with Raimundo… but if she knew why you tried to keep them apart, she might not be mad or upset at you anymore." Realizing that she was giving him a nasty look, he shook his head. "Or not. But I have to go and think about this. I might even have to contact them to find out if she's kept safe or not."

"What happens if she's not?"

"Then I'll give them hell," Jack said, giving her a meek smile. He slowly got up from her bed, heading towards her window. He looked at her from over his shoulder. "Remember, if they question you… you don't know anything."

"Roger that," she replied, giving him a nod. "I'll try to find her too, Spicer."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey there, you guys. I'm not dead—in fact, I finally had a few days for myself to sit down and type. I really didn't mean to procrastinate on this fic (or TBATH), but to be honest, I've been busy and overwhelmed with school work and stress over school related problems and what not. That's what I get for barely sleeping.

Ashley's kidnapped. Yikes. Who were Chase talking to? Why was Ashley trying to spy on Chase and Wuya in the first place? (More unanswered questions that are starting to pile up). 

_Spoiler alert_: one of the person Chase was talking to was the person who had spied on Kimiko and Raimundo with the walkie talkie. The older, unanswered questions will start to get answered as the story progresses... trust me. I just have to plan things out and plot them so that everything isn't so overwhelming.

Xiaolin Showdown's coming back! Yes, I have heard of the great news… up until the point where I find out that most of the voice actors will not reprise their roles… and that really disappointed me. The voice cast for the show was amazing (seriously. They're all vocal legends. I've watched so many cartoons with their voices… it amazed me to find out my childhood has revolved around shows where they have provided their voices for). And to find that there's going to be new voices (especially Jack)… it's just… not going to be the same. Oh wells. I'm glad that it's going to be Xiaolin Chronicles—and not Xiaolin Showdown. The last episode of XS was so great—and had a nice conclusion/finale… it would be such a waste if they create a new season with XS.

I'm just confused over the new names that the Shen Gong Wu has received. It's like… you've already changed the voices, you've messed up Jack's costume as well… and you're doing CGI (which is kind of confusing, and perhaps pointless)… do you have to change all of the Shen Gong Wu names as well?

Anyway, it's nice to know that the Xiaolin saga (let's just call it saga, because I'm going to get Showdown and Chronicle mixed up) is coming back spring 2013 (which is really far away…). Are you guys excited for it?

**Anyways, comment/review? It'll be very much appreciated.**


	19. Chapter 17: Just Crash, Fall Down

**Chapter 17: **_**Just Crash**_**, F**_**all Down**_**. **_**I'll Wrap My Arms Around You Now**_

There was a sound of a low buzzing noise that hummed throughout the dark room that surrounded her. Ashley found herself staring at the bruised, bloodied and beaten Japanese man in the cell besides her; his wrists chained together from the ceiling.

She couldn't help but stare at him, feeling concerned over his wellbeing, as she stared at the many cuts, both fresh and faded, that appeared all over his body.

Before the two of them could exchange any words, she heard footsteps approaching their cells. Wuya's body emerged from the darkness of the room, a look of disgust on her face as she stared at the blonde in front of her. "You're lucky that your mother came up with the ransom money in time, dear Ashley. Although, I'm pretty sure you're pretty little boyfriend found out and helped come up with the money to get you out."

"You don't care about money," Ashley spat, slowly rising up in her cell so that she could stand face to face with her. "Why demand it?"

"True. But there's literally nothing else Jack can offer me. He's already offered Chase and me his loyalty, so what else is there?" A sinister smile appeared on Wuya's tan face. "But I don't want to keep you prisoner. He can't offer his full fledge loyalty as long as he's worried over whether or not you're safe at home."

Ashley glared at her. "I really am the only leverage you have on Jack to keep him working for you, aren't I?" Realizing that Wuya never replied, she couldn't help but smirk. "I knew it."

-x-

"How would you describe _us_?" Raimundo asked, staring at the girl seated beside him. The two of them were sitting by the lake, watching Omi attack Clay with the water from it.

"Hmm?" she looked at him, sapphire blue eyes meeting forest green.

"Are we friends? Are we more than friends?"

After a moment of silence had past between the two of them, she finally replied. "Friends. Partners. _Dragons_. Fire and wind." She paused for a second. "We're… Raimundo and Kimiko."

He snorted. His gaze slowly drifted back to Clay and Omi, who were now using tactics from their training to attack one another. "It's crazy, isn't it?"

"What's crazy?"

"How just a few months ago, we were all just an average Joe. And now, we're… _superheroes. _Hormonal, moody teenagers that were thrust into greatness with a prophecy about the four dragons hanging over their head." He plucked a few strands of grass from the ground, before chucking them into the lake.

"It's not that bad," Kimiko finally said, staring at her hands. She looked at him, before smiling. "It makes me glad to know that if some guy pisses me off, I have the option of burning their car."

"Remind me not to upset you ever again," Raimundo teased, smiling at her.

She couldn't help but laugh at what he had just said. "I highly doubt you ever would."

-x-

"Mom?" Ashley cried out, as she slowly walked into her house. Just as she turned around to close the door behind her, the house automatically flooded with lights.

Her mother was standing on the other side of the room, a worrisome look on her face. "Ashley? Is that you?" Bursting out into tears, she quickly sprinted towards her daughter and pulled her into a bear hug. "Honey, I was so worried. _We_. We were so worried," she murmured, her face streaking with tears as she steered her daughter into their living room.

Sure enough, she could spot Jack sitting on the couch. His face lit up the second he saw Ashley, and he quickly ran to her side. "They didn't hurt you, right?" he inquired, as he buried his face into her hair, pulling her into a big embrace.

"No. They _wouldn't_," Ashley replied, taking in his scent as she hugged him back.

"We couldn't alert the authority," her mother muttered frantically. "They threatened to hurt you if we did."

"I was only gone for a day, mom," Ashley whispered, still not letting go of Jack. "Even less than a day, actually," she clarified.

"I'm just so glad that you're back, safe and sound," her mother finally said, as she wiped her eyes with a tissue that she had grabbed from the tissue box on the coffee table. "I'm—you must be starving, honey. I'm going to prepare you some soup." She quickly excused herself and quickly wandered into the kitchen.

"They shouldn't have done this," Jack whispered into her ear. "I've already proven my loyalty. This was just—this was just too far."

"This wasn't about you," Ashley replied "They wanted to teach me a lesson, Jack. I was _spying_ on them. I was being stupid, and I got caught. But they wouldn't have even hurt me, Jack. As long as they want you to work for them, they wouldn't lay a finger on me."

Jack let out a sigh. "Things can always change, Ashley." He pulled away from her, his arms still around her.

"I just want to know that they won't do anything to you," Ashley finally replied. She looked at the floor. "Just because they won't harm me doesn't mean that they'll do the same to you. I just, you've always been so hell-bent on the fact that you might be losing me, but have you ever considered how I'm going to feel if I lose you?"

He quickly kissed her on the lips. "You worry about me too much, Ashley."

"Who else is there to worry over you, Jack?"

-x-

Keiko was stunned to see Ashley at school, just as she was stunned to see Jack at school with her. She could feel her heart aching out of jealousy at the sight of Jack practically showering Ashley with his adoration. Not that she was jealous of Ashley, heavens no. She did not like Jack in any romantic way, whatsoever. What she was jealous of was the fact that while Jack was able to be with the person he loved most, she practically ruined whatever chance she had of ever being with the person she cared about most. "At least she's safe and sound."

"Keiko?"

She quickly whirled around, and found herself looking at Clay. She was conflicted on whether or not she should be stunned or happy to see him.

"Look," he started to ramble, his blond hair shifting over to the point where it covered his left eye, "I know you told me to stay away from you. And I really want to respect your wishes… but I just really want to know… why?"A painstaking look had appeared on his freckled face.

"Why does it matter?" she demanded, trying her best to not sound hurt. _I'm protecting you_.

"Because."

"'Because' isn't a sufficient answer, Clay."

"I care about you, Keiko," Clay finally stated, trying his best not to sound upset. "And you were one of my best friends, Kei. And then, out of the blues, you end our friendship by paying me off with a stupid gift."

"You think it was stupid?" Keiko asked, sounding extremely hurt.

"No. It was the nicest thing anybody has ever given to me—but that's not the point. What's the point is… why, Keiko?"

She let out a frustrated sigh. "Because I care about you, Clay!"

"If you really cared about me, you wouldn't have ended our friendship."

"It's…_complicated_."

"What could be so complicated that you would throw away our friendship like it meant nothing?" Clay demanded, folding his arm against his chest. "How did we end up like this?"

"Why does it matter?" Keiko snapped, glaring at the blond in front of her. "Why are you so fixated on finding out what happened?"

"Because! Because I like you, okay?" He snapped; his checked flushing a bright shade of red. "Because I've liked you since we were kids, and I've been crazy for you all of these years." He quickly trailed off the second he realized that Keiko's eyes were prickling with tears. "I didn't mean to shout," he finally said in a soft-spoken tone. "I'm so sorry. Please—please stop crying."

"I just, I don't know how to handle all of that information being thrown into my face," she replied, sniffling. "It's just too much to handle, Clay." Looking at him with a heartbroken look on her face, she whispered, "Why couldn't you understand when I told you that everything's complicated?"

-x-

"Wow, is it me or does Clay seem a bit off?" Jermaine asked, nudging Raimundo with the toe of his shoe.

Raimundo looked up from his history textbook, and found himself staring at his blond friend in a dumbfound manner as he kicked the tree next to him repeatedly. "Bummed wouldn't be the term I would use." He frowned. "It seems more like he's taking out his anger on the poor tree."

Jermaine stared at him, his left brow arched. "Since when does Clay Bailey get angry?"

"Only when something truly, and I mean _truly_, pisses him off," Raimundo replied. He let out a sigh, the second he realized that the ground around them was trembling with every kick that Clay was giving. "Clay! That poor tree hasn't done anything wrong to you!" he shouted, causing his friend to stop kicking the tree. He gestured at the table that they were seated at. "Come on over, chico!"

After spending a few minutes coaxing their friend to come over, he finally sat down begrudgingly with a sour look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Jermaine asked; looking at his blond friend with a concerned look plastered on his face.

"Everything."

"And by everything, do you mean a certain Asian girl that we saw you talking to earlier this morning?"

"No." Clay let out a sigh. "_Yes_."

"What happened?" Jermaine asked.

"Remember the days when you guys would make fun of me for liking her, telling me that she would never like me back?"

"What?" Raimundo frowned. "We were just kidding, man."

"Well, you guys were right. She obviously doesn't like me."

"She told you so?" Jermaine asked.

"…No."

"No?" Jermaine and Raimundo exchanged confused looks.

"She just told me that everything's 'complicated.'' He frowned. "Complicated my ass." He plopped his head onto the table, burying his face into his arms.

"Wow. That sucks," Raimundo stated, patting his friend on the back. "That really sucks, man."

"I just don't know where I went wrong," Clay finally muttered. "I mean, I would have understood if she had just told me that she didn't feel the same way… but she didn't. I just wish she would give me closure so that I could finally move on."

-x-

By the time soccer practice was over, Raimundo practically sprinted in order to get home in time for supper. Without a car, he was doomed between taking the bus with sickly strangers or walking home. He picked the latter, knowing that he would enjoy the breezy weather. He could feel himself manipulating the wind around him, causing leaves to cascade around him before gently landing on the ground. If he had known about this skill of his, he would have had abused it more as a child when he was on raking leaves duty.

Entering his house, he was surprised to find himself staring at Kimiko playing with his little sister. "What are you doing here?" he asked, startling her.

Before Kimiko even had a chance to reply, Zoe had cut her off.

"I'm allowed to be friends with anybody, including your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," he stated, just as Kimiko had said, "I'm not his girlfriend."

"Funny. Doesn't look that way t me," Zoe muttered to herself, causing her brother to scowl at her. Kimiko just looked at her with amusement.

"What were you two doing while I was at practice?" Raimundo asked, as he dropped his sports bag carelessly onto the ground.

"Kimiko was letting me help her pick clothes for her party."

"Party?" Raimundo stared at Kimiko with a bemused look.

"It's not really my party," Kimiko pointed out, as she scooted over so that Raimundo could sit next to her. "My aunt Hikari wanted to throw some lavishing charity event to help fund our high school's arts department."

"We have an arts department?" Raimundo muttered in confusion.

"Choir, dance, band, orchestra, drama… the whole enchilada," Kimiko replied. "A bunch of socialites are coming, from what I gathered from what my aunt told me."

He nodded. "So… are you really going to let an eight year old dress you for such an important event?" he asked, sounding extremely amused.

"Not her. You."

"Me?" Raimundo cried, sounding extremely startled.

"Hey! I worked really hard to find something for you!" Zoe snapped, sounding extremely offended.

Raimundo shot his sister an apologetic look."Sorry, Zoe. I'm pretty sure whatever you picked for me will be lovely."

"It is," Zoe shot back. "Because Kimiko wouldn't let me pick that jumpsuit that I had my heart set on to get for you."

Raimundo looked at Kimiko. "Thank you for sparing me from wearing a _jumpsuit_."

"You're welcome, Rai," Kimiko replied, smirking at him.

"So, is it just me that's attending this extravagant event?"

"I made sure my aunt invited Clay, Jermaine, and Omi. So they all get to invite an extra person as their plus one, if they wanted to. I'm pretty sure that Ashley's going as Jack's plus one."

"What about Keiko?" he asked.

She hesitated. "I'm pretty sure her family was invited, so she'll tag along with her parents. They wouldn't miss out on such a really well-known event, and they don't want to risk looking bad in front of the publicity for not bringing their daughter along." She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Why did you ask?"

"It's just… she's not on good terms with Clay, and I'd hate it if something happens between the two of them at your aunt's event," he stated, sounding extremely sincere.

"The event's in less than two weeks, Rai. I think that they would both refrain themselves from causing a disturbance at that event. And besides, my aunt made sure to have this place swarming with security. If they even start anything that could be considered a ruckus, they'd get thrown out."

-x-

"Raimundo, you better _behave_," his mother instructed, as she fixed his bowtie. "I do not understand why your sister picked a blue tie for you, when black is so much classier." She let out a soft chortle as she examined his terrible attempt of tying his bowtie. "I do not want to turn on the news at seven o'clock tonight to see my son responsible for getting a golf cart to crash into the Tohomiko's pool—or to see that half of their house was burned down."

"Mom, why would you think I would even do that? They don't even have a golf cart for me to crash into the pool to begin with," he joked, only for his mother to scowl at him.

"Behave," she instructed, before taking a step back from him. "You do look handsome, Raimundo. It's such a shame I can't get a picture of you and Kimiko—God knows what she's wearing, but it must be something beautiful." She handed him the keys to her car.

"Mom, it's not _prom_," he mumbled, sounding extremely flustered, as he took the keys from her hand.

"You're right, it's not prom. It's a bigger, more publicized event with a bunch of famous people." She quickly pecked him on the cheek. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

He bent over so that Zoe could kiss him on the cheek as well.

"If you do wound up trashing the place and going into custody, ask them if you could get a copy of your mug-shot so that I could hang it in my room," Zoe whispered, loud enough that their mother heard them.

"Zoe!" she cried, looking shocked that her daughter would even suggest such a thing. "Do not encourage him!"

-x-

"Wow, there sure is a lot of cars," Jermaine muttered, pressing his face against the car's window.

"Do you think Keiko's going to be there?" Clay asked, for what seemed to be the billionth time.

"For the last time, yes!" Jermaine snapped from the front, sounding exasperated.

Jessie, Clay's plus one, nodded in agreement.

"The probability of her being there depends on whether or not she decided to accompany her parents," Omi whispered to Clay.

"Jermaine, don't press your face against the window. This is my mom's car, for heaven's sake," Raimundo cried out.

By the time the five of them had finally piled out of the car, after spending quite some time looking for a place to park, they quickly made their way towards the Tohomiko residency.

Raimundo was probably the first one out of the four of them to spot Kimiko, who was probably the most stunning person he spotted in the entire room. Her hair was in a classy up-do, and she was wearing a sapphire colored sweetheart gown, the color of the gown matching the color of his tie. Now he finally understood why his sister picked a blue tie for him.

"Wow," he managed to squeak, as she gracefully strode over towards the group.

"I'm glad you guys made it. For a second, my aunt and I were worried that you guys got stuck in traffic," she said, smiling at all of them. "You guys should help yourself to h'orderves," she said.

"Girl, you look gorgeous," Jessie stated, grinning from ear to ear at her. "I know I'm not the only one who thinks so," she added, smirking as she glanced at Raimundo for a second.

"Thank you," Kimiko replied, laughing. "You look amazing too!"

Before any of them could ask or say anything else, there could be a sound of crashing coming from upstairs.

Kimiko's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I think Henry knocked something over again. I'm going to go check on him." She looked at her friends. "Poor little guy. His mother throws these events all the time, but he's still too shy to attend them." She looked at Raimundo. "If you see the waiter with crab cakes; save one of them for me."

Raimundo nodded, grinning at her. "Will do, _Princess_."

-x-

"Henry?" Kimiko cried out, as she stepped aside so that one of the party attendees could walk down the stairs. She flashed them a smile before returning her attention to finding out where her cousin went. "Where are you?"

She stopped when she realized that one of the bedroom doors were left ajar. She could have sworn that she had locked the doors in order to keep any of the party goers from snooping around upstairs. "Henry, are you in here?" She barely had a chance to open the door, when she found herself staring at the last person she had expected to see.

"_You!_" she shrieked, her eyes narrowing at the sight of Wuya in her cousin's room. Wuya was sitting on her cousin's bed in such a nonchalant manner that one would have assumed that she had been lying there for a few hours.

"Before you take one step closer, I hope you'll take a second to realize that your cousin's sleeping next to me," Wuya warned, gesturing to the small body that was beside her. "It'd be a pity if I instructed for him to gouge his own eyes out with his bare hands."

"You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" Her eyes flickered in amusement. "See, I'm not your average person, dear Kimiko. I'm _better_. Stronger. More powerful. I'm more capable of doing things that no mere mortal is capable of doing."

"So am I—" Kimiko started, only to be interrupted by Wuya.

"Take one step closer and your cousin's done for," Wuya snapped.

Kimiko stopped in her tracks. "Why are you here?"

"I'm trying to get you to join our side," Wuya simply said.

"'Your side?'"

"The better side. The more powerful side. We can offer you so much more. Your powers aren't that limited—"

"How do you know—"

"You think it's just you four that are affected by this prophecy?" Wuya narrowed her eyes. "How self-centered." She flicked her fingers, and a spark of green energy could be seen. "We're capable of so much more—all of us. We can have so much more."

"If you're capable of so, why even bother coming to me?" Kimiko hissed, trying her best to keep an eye on her cousin.

"Because in the end, it all comes down to you," Wuya hissed.

Kimiko shook her head. "We're all in charge of our own destiny—and I'm not going to change mine just so some crazy psycho can have her fun."

"Pity," Wuya finally said, shaking her head. "It's such a shame that you didn't agree to my offer, especially since this is the only civil offer I'll ever make."

"What do you mean—" Before she could ask another word, she could feel a powerful blast ricocheting against her, sending her flying out of the room. She quickly dug her heels into the ground, before she crashed into the railing and fell down into the first floor. She scowled at Wuya, her eyebrows knitting together as she could feel the rage building up inside of her. Running back into her cousin's room, she could feel every fiery blast that she had shot in Wuya's direction. Kimiko's cousin had awoken a while back and fled from his room before he was caught in the middle of the battle. The two girls were circling each other by now, attempting their best to calculate each other's moves.

"You think you can take me down?" Wuya laughed, as they continued their dance. "I'm stronger than you'll ever be, as long as you stay on the wrong side."

"Think about my offer once again. The next time you'll ever get this opportunity, the price will be higher," Wuya spat.

Before Kimiko could come up with a comeback, Wuya had quickly disappeared, leaving only the broken window as a sign that she was ever in here in the first place.

-x-

By the time Kimiko had made it downstairs, she could spot Raimundo talking to her aunt. She didn't realize how badly she hurt her side during her scuffle with Wuya. She also spotted her cousin surrounded by a bunch of other kids, all of them entertained with one of the many toys that her father had invented.

The second he spotted her, he quickly excused himself and made his way over towards her. "Would you care to dance?" he asked, extending his hand to her.

She smiled at him for a second, before wincing in pain over how badly her side hurt.

He frowned. "Is everything okay?" he asked, noticing the pained look on her face.

"I—not here," she finally replied. "Out on the gazebo in the backyard. There're less people out in the backyard."

He nodded; his expression solemn and grim.

Just as the two made it outside, he found himself slightly distracted by the Christmas lights that were hanged up, giving the gazebo a more cozy and romantic feeling. She was right, he noted. The gazebo was empty, with most of the party goers inside the house. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was worried over what had happened to her, he would have questioned her on whether or not getting him to accompany her out onto the gazebo a romantic ploy of hers.

"So, what happened?" he asked, as he wrapped his arms around the small of her back. He could see her wince for a second.

"I was attacked," Kimiko muttered, after she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"_What_?" Raimundo's eyebrows knitted together. "Just now? By who?"

"Wuya," Kimiko hissed, burying her face into his chest. "She came by and dropped me a visit—it was _not_ a friendly visit."

He frowned. Resting his chin on her head, he quickly asked, "I thought you said this place was _swarming _with security."

"I don't think that would have stopped her from stopping by," she muttered bitterly.

There was a brief period of silence among the two of them, as they continued their slow dance with one another.

"Why'd she stop by?" Raimundo finally asked.

"She wanted me to join their side," Kimiko replied icily. "Obviously, I said no—and she got really upset about it. She tried to attack me, but I held my ground."

"That's my Kimiko," Raimundo replied, smirking at her. "Always holding her ground."

She laughed, before burying her face against his chest once again. "And then there's you; always making me feel a lot better."

"We're quite a pair, aren't we?" Raimundo joked, smiling as he rested his chin on the crown of her forehead. "We're quite something," he muttered to himself, as they continued their slow dance; dancing to the slow beat from the music that could be heard playing from inside the house.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Wow. It's been almost a year since this was updated, so I decided to make this chapter a _lengthy_ one. I dedicate this lengthy chunk of a chapter to all of those who've read, favored, and etc with this story. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have felt the motivation it took to write this chapter.

I actually reread this whole entire story before I wrote this chapter, in order to keep myself from creating any holes or plot bunnies. There has been a lot of development between Raimundo's and Kimiko's relationship, as the story progresses. Their sassy, witty banter with one another has developed into something more, and I hope you guys realized that (especially with this chapter!)

Please note that there were time jumps during some scenes (some more drastic than others!).

The next chapter will still include scenes from Kimiko's aunt's event slash party, because this event is far from being done.

I just wanted to end this lengthy chapter on a sweet note, because most of the chapters this story has to offer always end on a cliffhanger. There are still many questions that are on the table, with a few answered… just as there are still many questions left to be explored.

Thank you for being patient and kind!

**Comment/Review? It'll be very much appreciated!**


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